Veterans Day
by texasPanzer
Summary: It is Veterans Day and Mr. Barkin wants a report done on the veterans of Middleton can a character from the past sum up the courage to come clean about his past and tell Kim and Ron about what he had done in Vietnam or will his struggle forever alone
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I own everyone else.

"Alright you bunch of freaks" he growled, "With the approach of Veterans Day the school, along with the city, have decided to cooperate," he shrugged his shoulders, "Why I don't know. What they have agreed on was to have all of you maggots to go out and interview our veterans of our town. I want a five page transcript typed up and placed on my desk by Monday, or i'll bury each and every one of you."

There was a unanimous groan, and a volley of heavy impacts as the students dropped their heads onto their desks.

"Shut up!" Mr. Barkin roared and the students jerked up, straightening their backs, eyes jut wide open. There was silence in the room at last for several seconds and Mr. Barkin relished in the tranquility until the bell rang; end of class. Picking up her books Kim Possible walked out towards her locker, down the long, narrow hallway packed with students. Almost immediately, she was intercepted by her best friend Ron Stoppable a tall blonde haired dimple faced boy always with a cheerful disposition, "Hey, KP" he waved, "Did you hear what Mr. Barkin said?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "I heard, but where are we going to find a veteran in town? There are so few and Bonnie knows, like, where they all live. Chances are we are going to be left high and dry for the weekend," she groaned again as together they reached her wall locker. Spinning the dial lock and opening the metal coffin she stuffed her books inside, flanking the internal monitor that was connected to her friend Wade. Right now, she prayed that the screen would light up with the computer geek with a mission that would remove her from this quagmire, but it was silent as the grave.

"Oh, no big" Ron smiled from ear to ear, "I hear there is a vet that moved into a house just down the street for me," his voice suddenly dropped to a whisper to avoid anyone from hearing them.

"Really?" gasped Kim. Her face cracked with a joyful smile, "That's great. We should head there now and see if he will talk to us. You know those veterans, a lot of them are very protective about their past."

Nodding in agreement Ron looked over his shoulder to see Monique approaching with her arms bound with books. Looking over Ron's shoulder the red head waved her hand, "Hey, girlfriend."

"Hey, Kim" Monique sighed. There was obvious strain her voice.

"What's wrong?" her two friends looked on in care.

"I'm going to interview my father" she said, "He was in Vietnam, but he's very quiet about it. He hasn't told anyone about his tour in all these years. Not even to my mother."

"Really? Then, how did you know?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

Monique lowered her head, eyes looking away, "I…I went snooping through one of his boxes and found his service medals a few weeks ago. He found out and told me to never do it again." Her voice was quivering, almost silent in tone. She sounded ashamed of what she had done.

"Don't worry, Monique" assured Kim as she shut her locker and spun the lock, "You're his daughter. He's not going to hate you. Just be sincere. He's not…" before she could finish her sentence Ron caught sight of a brown haired girl in a cheerleader uniform approaching them with determination in her eyes. "Hold that thought, KP" he interrupted, "Bon bon at twelve o' clock." Looking with their eyes at the approaching figure, it was Kim's rival whom carried a sarcastic smirk on her lips, "Well, Kimmy, let's see who tops who with what I'm going to give to Mr. Barkin."

"What are you talking about, Bonnie?" Monique hissed between her teeth.

"Well, let's just say I have a group of veterans lined up and they are all willing to tell me their stories. I'll do the five pages and then some. Let's just see you top that. Oh, did Mr. Barkin mention that there will be a dance afterwards? Oh, that's right, you didn't know because "I" just thought of it and the principle agreed. The person with the highest grade will be awarded a small scholarship from the VFW." When she was finished Bonnie looked at the three with that smirk on her lips. She knew that she had them all beat and walked away with her chin held high in the air.

"A group of veterans?" barked Ron, "How did she do that?" His hands were up in the air, signifying that he was already to surrender.

Kim sighed, "I don't know, but I hope that veteran of your's is willing to speak."

Kim and Ron left the school, but they surmised that first they should go home and prepare themselves before conducting the interview. When Kim came home she threw her book bag onto the floor of her room and fell face first into her soft bed. Ron was going to call, perhaps an hour or so. He was going to write some questions and then see if the veteran is home. He had that awful scooter with him so why walk back and forth if nothing came of it? It was ample time to catch a nap. It was a long day, all she wanted to do was sleep, but the threat that Mr. Barkin had made to them rang heavily in her ears. She could not afford to be buried. Everything was on the line. Her reputation, future education, and worst of all; her social life were all hanging by a thread. If Bonnie topped her it would be the end of the world. The cheer squad might elect her as leader the next year. Then her grades will plummet, she won't get invited to the prom, then she'll never get married. AGH! Her head was spinning. The phone on the nightstand suddenly rang. Reaching blindly onto the piece of wood furniture she grasped the receiver and brought it up to her ear, "Talk to me" she muttered as her face sank into the pillow.

"KP" said the familiar voice of Ron on the other end, "It's all ready. The man is home right now and Bonnie is nowhere in sight. We have to hurry or we might lose our chance."

"Sure thing," she muttered then hung up the phone. Kim waited for several seconds before lifting her tired frame up from her bed. Taking up her book bag once more she left her room and went into the kitchen where mother had left a pile of freshly made cookies and a tall glass of ice cold milk. Ron can wait a few more minutes she smiled then pounced onto her prey with no mercy.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own the characters to Kim Possible, they are owned by Disney. I own everyone else.

There came a knock on the front door followed by, "KP? You here?" It was Ron's voice from the outside.

"Hmm hmm" she tried to reply with a mouth full of chocolate chip cookies.

In came Ron with a pen clipped to the collar of his shirt, a leather bound pad of paper in his hands, and a smile on his face. From his breast pocket out popped the rounded pink head of Rufus, his naked mole rat, sniffing the air that tasted like gooey chocolate chip cookies. Climbing out he had his eyes set on the last cookie on that white plate and pounced, his tiny body arcing through the air. Yet, when he landed there were only tiny crumbs. "Ohhh" he sighed in disappointment picking up a crumb that was smaller than his fingers and crunched down on it. Kim had beaten him to the punch.

"You ready to go?" Ron asked.

"Sure thing, let's go" Kim replied with a smile as she wiped away the milk from her lips. Taking up her book bag the two departed with Rufus jumping back into Ron's pouch only after he removed a cookie from the twin's plate of treats, gleefully stuffing his face.

Outside in the cool, clean air the two walked side by side down the sidewalk. There was not a soul around. It was just after school there should be children running around the front of their houses or in the streets, but, strangely, they were not. Everyone seemed to be shut up inside their houses. Looking at his friend there was something special about Kim, Ron knew it, but he could not force himself to say anything. They had been friends since they were playing in the sand box, but now with graduation so close he felt it was time to say something, but he could not muster the strength. There was no telling what would happen once they graduate. Someone of adventure, like Kim, would be travelling all over the world while he was stuck doing something like…camp counselor. A block from her house Kim turned to Ron and said, "I hope this veteran of yours is there. I can't stand if Bonnie upstages me on Monday."

"I'm sure, KP. He's here. On our way back home, on my Mophed, I saw him go into his house. One thing though, I don't think he ever changed out of his uniform because I saw him in green".

"Uh-huh" chirped Rufus, "Yuck".

"It was a sick green" he continued, "darker than the grass, like vomit"

It was over half a mile towards the end of the street, where it gradually began to curve towards the right and down a slight hill. "There it is" Ron pointed out, where there was a small house, one story with a two car garage with large shuddered windows. The grass was cut down short, no weeds, and the walls this place were of bright white paint. A short iron gate barred them from an entrance, but lacked a lock. All that was needed was a gentle push on the iron frame and it yielded to their force with a high pitch screech that made them tremble. Beyond that was a long, narrow walkway that slightly twisted towards the front door. "Are you sure we should be going in?" Ron asked his voice beginning to break. He felt a cold shiver going up his spine.

"I see why not" replied Kim, "After all, this was your idea. We don't know if he's home unless we knock on the door". Kim continued on while Ron felt an uneasy feeling in his feet. They were lead, it took a great deal more energy to lift. He looked around and saw that there were no weeds; the lawn was pristine which was odd for this region where there was more crab grass than anything else. The front door was made of the highest pine, clean cut with a high sheen surface and the glass they were staring at was crystal clear allowing the owner to see whom was calling. Standing in front of the door they were standing as statues. Brave Ron felt his courage up and run. Thus Kim summed up the courage first. With a gentle knock on the door there came a voice from beyond.

"Who is it?"

"Hi, I'm Kim Possible and this is Ron Stoppable. We're here to ask you a few questions about your service." She forced a smile that perhaps would win him over and she held it as there was a pause. Rufus popped his head up from Ron's pouch, "Uh-oh" then dropped back down. He felt something terrible, the others could as well, but they stood their ground; Kim with courage whilst Ron was petrified with feat. The door cracked open, just a few inches, and a pale white face with solid brown eyes could be seen in the darkness of the interior looking back at them.

He asked, "How did you know I was in the service?"

Kim gently jabbed Ron in the ribs with her elbow, "Uh, I saw you in uniform while you were going into your house today."

Next came another pause and their anticipation heightened. Was he going to slam the door in their face or was he going to going to let them in? This subsided when the door opened further and the face disappeared allowing the two to enter. Kim was the first one in and she saw the man holding the door open. When he closed it he introduced himself, "I'm Robert". He was a tall man, about six feet tall with buzzed cut brown hair, and large ears. He looked like a grown up Ron without the blonde hair and dimples. Kim giggled as they stepped through and sniffed the air. It was cold and heavy. Robert led them to the right of a hallway where there was a living room set with a large television and a couch sitting underneath the panoramic window that was still held shut and a shiny brown coffee table. "Have a seat, I'll fetch us some drinks." he said but before he departed the man opened the slats of the window to allow light to flood the room.

The two sat down and immediately pulled out their pens and notepads. So far they were off to a good start. As long as Ron kept his trap shut this was going to be a cake walk. A faucet turned and ran for several seconds then turned off. A refrigerator opened and shut and Robert returned with a tray with three glasses of cold lemonade.

"Make sure to use coasters" he remarked as he set the tray down and handed them out, "This was my mom's table. She always told us to use coasters."

"Thank you," said Kim as she took up the glass and took a sip. It was cool and clean and refreshing a break in her hard day.

Robert did not seat himself though there was a reclining chair available just off to the right of the couch. Instead, he stood upright with his back against the far wall. It was bright, the rays of the sun warming the room, but Robert was off into the edges, in the shadows. "Now, what brings kids like you to a place like this?" he asked in a deep, powerful, voice.

"We're here for a report in history. I hear that you were a veteran," said Kim.

Robert sighed, smirked, and dropped his head to his chest, "That was a long time ago."

"We're interested" said Ron with a smile on his face that quickly turned into a frown when Robert paused for a response. He seemed to be fighting himself for words. The two kids watched him as he abruptly dropped to a sitting position with his back still to the wall. It was such a long time ago, but the man still wore his fatigues like it were still yesterday. His name tag read "Montry". "I haven't told anyone about my service. Not even my folks know about what I did in the Army."

"Why not?" asked Ron.

"Boy" said Robert, "if you served you will know. There are just some things that no one needs to know."

"Where did you serve?" asked Kim.

"I was in Fort Riley. Sigh, it was such a long time ago. I was tapped to go to Vietnam in '72. I didn't want to go. I had only a year left in my enlistment. I didn't want to go where everyone was dying." His voice tapered off then fell silent. Kim paused in her writing and looked up. Rufus came from his pouch and looked around. "Huh?"

"Mr. Robert? Uh, Mr. Montry?" Kim asked with concern. No answer. She rose up from her seat, walked around the table, and touched the man on his shoulder. It was cold and wet, but the man suddenly lifted up his head and looked into her eyes. "I was there. It was a mess" His voice was breaking, he was fighting back tears. Before any one of them could respond he continued, "I went to Saigon and then to the Mekong Delta. The Brown Water Navy, what a glorious life. We patrolled the waterways, stopping sampans and finding weapons caches. We were in many ambushes but my boat came out it unscathed, until...that one day."

"Mr. Montry?"

He paused in his words, fighting more to control his emotions. All of it was flooding back into his mind after being trapped for so long. "We were strolling for weapons caches along the coast when another boat radioed for help. They were under fire from the tree line and their captain was wounded. It was five miles from where we were, but we went as fast as possible and found a mess. There were people on the shore standing in the open firing weapons, mortars, rockets, grenades; they were determined to kill the crew. We opened fire on them with our fifty and thirty cals and called for air support. Soon, there were Huey gunships overhead and Phantoms bombing and strafing the entire jungle. It lasted for hours. We pulled up to the boat and found the deck slick with blood. The entire crew was dead; they had been for an hour. While we were gunning them down they were dying. They were dead before we could call for a medevac," tears began to flow from his eyes and ran down his cheeks. Kim could not go on any further, but Ron was scribbling fast. It was too much, but he was not done.

"We were told to go on land and invest the bodies for intelligence and gather weapons. There were charred bodies, twisted in horrible fashion. They were young, teens, your age, even younger. They were not afraid to die. We were." After a pause Robert shifted his position, slowly standing up and walked a few steps closer to Ron at the table. "We were...heroes. I was awarded the Silver Star and my crew received the Bronze Star with V device. Everywhere we went afterwards we were labeled as heroes for what we had done. We did not feel like it."

"What happened after your tour?" Ron asked.

"Well, after all that our tour came to an end and we were sent home, but I went home first. The plane ride was horrible. I felt like I was crammed into a box between other GIs that bounced around with each jar of the plane. I came home and all my family could do was weep. I couldn't tell them what I did over there, no matter how I tried. My voice was silent as the grave. I went to the Vietnam Wall after it was built and I could see the faces of those I was forced to leave behind."

A tear formed in Kim's emerald green eyes. It was so sad. This man had been through so much. But, he was not finished.

"Come with me, I want to show you something," said Robert. He walked out of the room, and, with his two young interviewers in tow went to a panel in the ceiling with a small cord dangling made of hemp. A gentle pull and down came a flight of stairs that led to the attic. Robert was the first up followed closely by Kim and then Ron. The beams creaked under their weight, but they made it up. There were cobwebs that made their own little walls but they fought through them to a small trunk in the furthest corner of the room. It the air was hot, musky, and difficult to breath with all the dust that they coughed up. Robert kneeled beside it and lifted the top. A blast of hot dust spat the two children in the face. When they cleared themselves off they found a uniform there. It was olive green with the name, "Montry" on a labeled over the right breast and pinned to the pocket on the other side was a medal, the Silver Star.

"Wow, this is incredible" remarked Ron as he jotted it all down on his notepad. Kim lifted the uniform up and there was a small thud underneath it. Looking down there was a small box, red velvet, smaller than her fist. What is that? Setting the uniform top aside she picked up the box and opened it. It was a diamond ring, breath taking. It must have been ten carats, worth a fortune. "How could you afford something this big?" asked Kim to Robert who merely smiled and shook his head. "I saved up my money. But I don't have use for it anymore. Take it" he said.

"Oh, but I can't" Kim gasped and began to place it back where she found it, but Robert insisted, "I have no need for it now. Go ahead and take it. It's worth more with you than me now." Kim was not sure what he meant by it, but she felt compelled to keep the ring and she placed it in her book bag. "Thank you" Kim smiled. Putting the green uniform top back into the chest Kim asked, "What happened when you got back home?"

"I couldn't do anything but rot" he said flatly, "I just lay there and wept."

"Did you talk to the Veterans Affairs people" she asked, "I mean; they give pensions and such to guys like you." When those words left her lips she immediately wanted to take it back for how it sounded.

"No, they couldn't help. They gave my folks some money but that was all they could do." he said.

"What about the rest of your crew. What happened to them?"

"Two of them died a year ago, Marcus Antonio died of liver disease, and Daniel O'Rourke had bad lungs from chain smoking. That left only Christopher Vincent and Ryan Yarbrough they are in the Veterans Hospital in New York". They won't make it to the end of the year, I'm afraid."

"That is tragic" said Kim "Is there anything we can do?"

"There is nothing more you can do for us. Just remember us and what we did. We all did what we could for each other. Guess that wasn't enough. A Silver Star, a Bronze Star, all of that could not compensate for what we had to endure. People always asked the same questions when a soldier returns. "Did you kill anybody" that one never settled too well with me. Yes, I did kill people, but that was because I had to in order to protect my friends and family. When it was all over we all felt that we let each other down. We all went our separate ways, but we kept in contact."

"Do you have their numbers?" Kim asked as Ron began to dig into the chest after setting aside his notepad. He was curious after seeing the medal and wanted to know if any more were in there. Kim picked up his notepad as Ron found a black and white photo near the bottom. It was still in good condition, except the edges were a little crinkled. Holding it up Ron examined it in the light coming through a vent above their heads. Robert recognized it immediately and said, "That was our boat." He was referring to five men standing on the deck of a small boat surrounding with machine guns. "We named it the "King Kong," his voice was becoming more upbeat in reflecting on these specific memories.

Ron enquired, "Why did you name it that?"

"We carried the heaviest weapons and no one wanted to challenge us. We were like King Kong of the river," Robert chuckled that made the two youngsters laugh. "Oh, I have their numbers right here" he concluded by handing over a slip of white paper from his breast pocket. Giving it over to Kim she stowed it away in Ron's notepad while Ron placed the photograph aside and continued to dig into the chest. Kim wanted to stop him but looking at the veteran as he observed, he seemed content to let the boy dig. Kim, pen in hand, was waiting for his dictation to resume, "Every day, for nearly a year, we went down the Delta, picking up infiltrators in sampans. They were such children, hiding grenades in bins of rice. We would toss the stuff overboard or set the entire boat on fire. We were with another boat that carried a flame thrower that would set the entire thing ablaze." Hearing the words of things being set ablaze Kim continued to write despite the cramp in her wrist as Ron reached the bottom of the box. He found a envelope, he guessed was white before was now a faded yellow. Looking at the address it was addressed to a Barbara Montry, but instead of being from Robert it was from the Secretary of the Army. What was it? Beside it was a case, made of fine leather with gold leaf stenciling, "Silver Star." Ron looked over at Robert, "May I?"

"Go ahead," Robert nodded.

Opening the flap he pulled out a folded piece of paper. The letter was made by a typewriter. "Dear Mrs. Montry. It is my pleasure to give to you the Silver Star that you son, Sergeant First Class Robert Montry for gallantry in action against a vastly superior enemy force at the village of My Tho. When responding to a fellow boat's pleas of distress Sergeant First Class Montry responded with his of swift boat and placed it in a blocking position between the enemy and his comrade's boat. Returning the enemy fire they killed off the immediate threat and still under artillery and rocket fire took the disabled boat in tow and took it to a place of safety where the wounded crews were evacuated."

"Oh my" Ron said to himself. Beside him Robert and Kim were still talking, but Ron was in his own world. Reading the lines he felt himself being propelled forward and there was the cool slap of aid on his face and a deafening roar of an engine. "Ron? Ron!" he was jarred back by Kim. "Oh, sorry" he meekly smiled placing the letter back into its envelope. His dig resumed and he found the bottoms to Robert's uniform. It was of puke green like the top and when his hands touched it to lift it out of place there was something underneath. It was a picture frame with a broken glass face. What was that? Pulling the pants aside he lifted up the frame. The jagged glass fell to the floor and underneath was a black and white photo. There were three people in the photo. One was Robert, in uniform. He was so handsome with his awards decorating his chest, but what also drew everyone's fancy was the two he stood next to. One was a tall man with combed up hair and a neat smile and the second was a lady, short and thin, with hair that flowed down to her shoulders. "Who are they, your folks?" asked Kim while at the same time Ron handed the frame over to her. "No," Robert said, "This is Ann and James. I met them before I was sent overseas. They were such a lovely couple. I introduced James to Ann while at an army/civilian workers function. He was a shy guy and never had been on a date before. So I took along a schoolmate that was equally as shy."

"Mom? Dad? You introduced my parents?" Kim gasped.

"If the boot fits,"

Kim gripped the frame, her jaw slacked, eyes wide, short of breath. Ron threw his head back and laughed, "You're parents? Dr. J and Dr. A were introduced by this man? Why didn't they say anything before?"

"I...I don't know. I guess I never asked them" countered Kim as she continued to look at the picture. Only then did she begin to see the resemblance.

"Well, perhaps you should. This is great, though" exclaimed Ron, "We did it. We have the five pages and more. I bet we're going to get an A plus." Putting the uniform and everything else back in the trunk Robert let it slam shut on its own and led the two back down the flimsy steps.

"Did I answer all your questions?"

"Sure did" remarked Ron as Kim handed back his notepad and carefully went over the writings.

"Good, well, you best be on your way. Don't want to miss dinner." said Robert as they went towards the front door. He stopped for a moment and slowly leaned against the wall, placing his hand against the white wallpaper. It was just for a second and when he removed it, there was a faint outline from his hand that the kids noticed but paid no significance to.

"I can't thank you enough, Mr. Montry. Thank you so much," Kim smiled, throwing her backpack over her shoulder freeing her hands to shake the soldier's hand. When those slender fingers and palms touched his there was a jolt of cold energy. Kim said nothing, kept her smile. "Thank you again" then walked away to catch up to Ron who was waving farewell. Once outside the gate he held his notepad into the sky, "We did it! We'll need to clean this up, but by tomorrow we'll be done and then we'll have the whole weekend to party!"

"Hold on, Ron," Kim said, "I don't think we're done." She fished out the list of names for Robert's crew, "I'll call these guys and see if they can add anything to Mr. Montry's testimony." To get the list she had to open her own notepad and she was then able to read what little she had taken down. Only then did she realize that most of the writing was on Ron's paper. "I just can't believe all this" she muttered, "That man went through so much and we took it away from him."

"No, we didn't, KP" said Ron, "he opened up to us. We told him what this was all about. It's not your fault"

A drop of rain fell and hit him in the forehead. The clouds had turned to over cast and soon that drop turned into a down pour. Their clothes soaked the two friends made a run towards the cowling of Kim's house. Drenched to the bone they shivered, but Kim could not fight the fear she had in her heart, "Ron, I just don't think this is right, I mean, we brought back the bitter memories of the war to that guy, it seems that he is suffering from PTSD."

"What's PTSD?" asked Ron.

"Post traumatic stress disorder"

"You mean what happens when you eat too much nachos at once?" he inquired.

"No, I mean battle fatigue; shell shock."

"You mean what happens when you stick your finger in the light socket?"

Kim said nothing, but rolled her eyes. "Thanks for all your help" smiling.

"No biggie" smiled Ron. He turned to leave. Kim wanted to say something to him, but could not. "Good night" she whispered instead as she stepped inside and closed the door.

The next morning the alarm clock blared; seven in the morning. Stretching her arms Kim dawned her fresh pair of clothes and socks with a nice pair of shoes. It was a beautiful Monday morning. Grabbing her note book she went downstairs where her family had gathered to eat. A hot plate of pancakes was waiting for her dressed in maple syrup. "Hurry, Kimmie" said mom with a smile, "Ron will be here any minute to pick you up".

Hurriedly she gobbled down the buttermilk cakes and wiped the syrup from her lips for at the same moment there was a knock at the door.

"Hi, Ron, come on in" Anne said.

In came Ron sporting his standard issued smile, "Hey, KP, ready to go?"

"Uh-huh" she replied while gulping down the last few drops of her milk then rushing out the door.

As they walked Kim took out her note book and flipped through the pages she typed up during the weekend. "Did you get in touch with those guys in New York" Ron inquired as they stepped outside.

"Yeah," she said, "But they didn't say much. They said that Robert was a brave man but they only visited him twice since the end of the war. They had fond memories of their captain but I didn't press them for details. Here, I typed it all up". She handed her version of events in a twelve font typed text of paper eight pages long.

"This is great" he exclaimed with a definite cheer, "We have over five pages. I'm sure we'll get that A."

"Oh, wait" stopping cold in her tracks.

"What is it, KP?" asked Ron as he stood beside her. Her green eyes were transfixed on something on the horizon.

"We didn't get his signature. We won't be able to produce his story without it".

"Uh, wait what? I don't remember we need a signature," Ron began to say as Kim bean to sprint down the sidewalk and he propelled himself to catch up, "Alright! Alright! We'll get it!" He knew that once Kim had her eyes set on a goal, she would do everything to achieve it, no matter how ludicrous it was. The two made it to the house in no time flat and found that its lights were out, no cars in the garage, the curtains were shut. "I don't think he's home", noted Ron as he saw this. The place seemed like it was abandoned now, the grass was over grown, weeds were infiltrating the patio, the walls were full of chipped paint, a far cry from what is was before. Once at the gate the two peered over the rails at the house and a cold sensation ran up their spines that they could not explain. They suddenly felt cold even though it was a sunny morning. "Ron? Are you sure this is the right house?" she asked looking at the address marked on the brick fence.

"Uh-huh" he nodded, "This is the place. No mistake." Rufus popped his head out with a pad of paper in his hand. It had the address written in ink from Friday, "Uh-huh" he chirped in agreement.

"Ron, I have a bad feeling about this" Kim sighed.

A car pulled up behind them on the street and a tall business man stepped out carrying a briefcase in one hand and a key in the other.

"Can I help you?" this finely dressed man asked as he walked around his car onto the sidewalk.

"Huh, yeah, we're trying to find Robert, the owner of the house" Kim answered glancing at the house then at the man.

"Robert?" he raised an eyebrow, "Young lady there hasn't been a person living in that house for more than thirty years".

There was a thud as their jaws dropped, "What? That can't be right" argued Kim, "This has to be a mistake. Robert...he's a veteran from Vietnam. He lives in that house. He invited us inside yesterday."

"Look, I'll let you in, but trust me, there hasn't been a soul inside there for since the 70's." the man said. He inserted his key into the bolt and unhinged the lock. The hinges creaked the same as before and the two followed behind as the agent lead the way to the door. Along the way Kim glanced at the door, fully expecting to see a young Robert to open the door and greet them. He did not. Stepping onto the patio they found it caked in dust. Weeds were up to knee high and the light above their head was shot. The man pulled out a second set of keys and turned the deadbolt of the door. The hinges creaked as he slowly pushed it in. The air was cold and heavy and full of dust. Like before there was a living room to the right. There was a couch draped in heavy fabric, grey in color. There was also a coffee table, wood, and antique, caked in dust but there was something abnormal about it for there on the table were three glasses, on coasters.

"Ron, what's going on?" Kim nudged her friend, who was equally stumped.

"Hey, look at this" said the man. Looking behind them there was a hand print on the chipped wall. It was large, too large to be from anyone of them. "That's Robert" Kim immediately pointed out.

"Young lady," said the man, "there hasn't been a Robert or anyone living in this house for thirty years. I knew the family well. There was a Robert, Robert Montry Montry, but he was killed in Vietnam in 1972."

Kim felt her heart seize up. It was difficult to breath. That was impossible. This was his place. She felt her hand touch his. "Ron, this is creepy. Let's get out of here."

"What about his signature?" Ron asked but Kim did not answer, just grabbing his hand and rushing out of the house as fast as their legs could take them.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I own the others.

Slowly shuffling down the sidewalk, side by side Kim was stunned, "Thirty years...how could he be dead for thirty years?"

Ron suggested as he flipped through the manuscript, "Maybe it was all in our imagination," that would be the logical conclusion, but if one person sees a ghost then it could be plausible but what would happen if two people saw the same ghost? Rufus was shivering in Ron's pocket at the mere mention of the word ghost and was wondering the same thing as well. Time for them was all forgotten, they were walking to school, but they were taking their time of it. Kim was of the quick mind and began to think back about everything Robert was saying during the entire interview, "Wait, wait. What if he was telling us the whole time?" Kim said easing to a stop.

"What?"

"Let me see the papers"

Handing them over Kim hurriedly combed through the text, "Look here, he said that when he came back all that his family could do was weep and that his surviving crew only visited him on two occasions. When I talked to him they had only fond memories of their friend. They were telling us that he was dead. How could we have been so blind?"

"Forget that, but how do you explain the ring and the chest in the attic?" said Ron.

"I can't" then she suddenly remembered the ring. It was still in her possession. In fact, it was in her backpack. She pulled it out and opened it. It was very much real. The band was of solid gold and was a shimmering as it was since the seventies.

"This is downright creepy" she said snapping the case shut, "but we better hurry before the Barkinator marks us as tardy."

Making a V-line towards their High School the two traversed the hallways of the campus, finally coming to a stop at Kim's locker where she stored her bag and grabbed her necessary books. Ron carried the papers in front with him with a degree of glee in his eyes. He was finally going to earn an A in this class, for once; even though unusual he was going to earn it. Kim, however, remained as silent as the grave as they entered Mr. Barkin's class. She placed the papers on the growing stack and prayed in her mind that Mr. Barkin would just skim over them and not scrutinize.

Sitting next to each other, Ron and Kim had their eyes fixed forward onto the chalk board when Mr. Barkin marched in. He saw the stack of papers but showed no emotion as he spied the crowd of students in front of him.

"Alright, you bunch of maggots. I see that all of you managed to turn your papers in, and on time". He picked up the stack and skimmed over the words. "Bonnie, how many veterans did you interview?" he asked. The brown haired girl carried a smirk on her lips that Kim grew disgusted of.

"Five" she said rising up her left hand to show five extended fingers.

"Impressive. Kim Possible, how about you?"

"Just three" she muttered.

"What was that? Speak up!" he demanded.

"Just three, sir" she managed to say aloud.

That did not settle too well with Mr. Barkin whom set the papers down on his desk and clasped his hands behind his back. "Who did you interview?" he asked.

"Charles Robert Montry" said Ron, "It was a team effort."

Nodding in approval Mr. Barkin continued, "Name doesn't ring a bell and I know many veterans. Who are the other two?"

"His crew from the Brown Water Navy a Mr. Vicent and Yarbrough of New York" Ron continued. Rufus handed up a slip of paper with all of the information from his pocket.

"Ah, yes" Mr. Barkin smirked, "I remember those guys. On those swift boats tearing the countryside apart…"

"Mr. Barkin?"

"Nothing, let's continue."

He sat down behind his desk and grabbed the first paper from the stack, "While I read these," he said to the class, "I want you all to read chapters three to five of your history books. There will be a page due on what you read due tomorrow". There was a groan throughout the classroom.

"Silence!" and there was silence in the class as the students opened up their books and began to read. While skimming through the chapter Kim glanced up and something caught her eye in the doorway of the room. It was a man, about six feet tall, wearing green fatigues. Robert? Before she could even blink the image was gone and there was nothing left but a void in the doorway.

"What is it?" whispered Ron.

"Oh, nothing, thought I saw someone" she whispered back. The two continued to read though the chapter until the bell rang and the class was dismissed. As they were about to leave the room, Mr. Barkin stopped them, "Possible! Stoppable!" he yelled.

"Yes, Mr. Barkin?" Ron replied nervously.

"Where did you meet this Mr. Montry?" he said while reading through their typed up paper.

"He lives down the street from us," Ron standing before the teacher.

"This seems a little fishy to me" he growled, "But he signed the paper so I guess I'll have no choice but to accept it. Now get out of here".

"That was interesting." said Ron as they walked down the hallway, "I thought he didn't sign the paper.

"I thought so, as well" concurred Kim as they navigated through the throng of students towards her locker. Opening it up she removed her backpack and placed her history books back in. Before she could shut the door there was Bonnie on a intercept course.

"Oh geez," the red head growled.

"Well, well, Kim. Five to three" she said, "five to three. Try and beat that. How can three beat five?"

"Ours is much better" spat Ron. "Uh-huh" Rufus concurred. It was only an empty reinforcement.

"Thtt," scoffed Bonnie, "My five can beat your three with their hands tied behind their backs."

"Care to prove that?" said Kim taking a few steps closer to her opponent, eyes narrow in a angry scowl.

Not intimidated Bonnie said, "Sure thing. Mr. Barkin will tell us when he hands us back our grades tomorrow." Finished the brown headed cheerleader departed with a smirk on her face that Kim would love nothing more than to smack off, but she restrained herself in front of Ron. Hopefully, she prayed, her paper will spark enough interest in the man that he will mark the paper with an A. Walking to the cafeteria the two settled down to a hot meal of a burrito and chips. Ron could not restrain himself any further and dove into the meal just like Kim did with her cookies. He lifted up his head from his plate, it was smeared with bean paste and melted cheese. Disgusting but his innocent face brought a smile to the red head. The Kimunicator suddenly beeped and she immediately pulled it out of her pocket and turned on the monitor, "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Dr. Drekkan has broken into the chemical plant on the outskirts of town. I have pulled up the files and there is an acid stored there that can burn through titanium alloy and reinforced steel."

"Like a bank safe" noted Kim.

"Exactly"

"We're on our way!"

"But, I'm not finished," Ron complained, but Kim heard nothing of it. She pulled her friend by the scruff of the collar while Rufus down one more chip then jumped on his owner's shoulder while they exited out of the cafeteria.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I own the others.

Slowly shuffling down the sidewalk, side by side Kim was stunned, "Thirty years...how could he be dead for thirty years?"

Ron suggested as he flipped through the manuscript, "Maybe it was all in our imagination," that would be the logical conclusion, but if one person sees a ghost then it could be plausible but what would happen if two people saw the same ghost? Rufus was shivering in Ron's pocket at the mere mention of the word ghost and was wondering the same thing as well. Time for them was all forgotten, they were walking to school, but they were taking their time of it. Kim was of the quick mind and began to think back about everything Robert was saying during the entire interview, "Wait, wait. What if he was telling us the whole time?" Kim said easing to a stop.

"What?"

"Let me see the papers"

Handing them over Kim hurriedly combed through the text, "Look here, he said that when he came back all that his family could do was weep and that his surviving crew only visited him on two occasions. When I talked to him they had only fond memories of their friend. They were telling us that he was dead. How could we have been so blind?"

"Forget that, but how do you explain the ring and the chest in the attic?" said Ron.

"I can't" then she suddenly remembered the ring. It was still in her possession. In fact, it was in her backpack. She pulled it out and opened it. It was very much real. The band was of solid gold and was a shimmering as it was since the seventies.

"This is downright creepy" she said snapping the case shut, "but we better hurry before the Barkinator marks us as tardy."

Making a V-line towards their High School the two traversed the hallways of the campus, finally coming to a stop at Kim's locker where she stored her bag and grabbed her necessary books. Ron carried the papers in front with him with a degree of glee in his eyes. He was finally going to earn an A in this class, for once; even though unusual he was going to earn it. Kim, however, remained as silent as the grave as they entered Mr. Barkin's class. She placed the papers on the growing stack and prayed in her mind that Mr. Barkin would just skim over them and not scrutinize.

Sitting next to each other, Ron and Kim had their eyes fixed forward onto the chalk board when Mr. Barkin marched in. He saw the stack of papers but showed no emotion as he spied the crowd of students in front of him.

"Alright, you bunch of maggots. I see that all of you managed to turn your papers in, and on time". He picked up the stack and skimmed over the words. "Bonnie, how many veterans did you interview?" he asked. The brown haired girl carried a smirk on her lips that Kim grew disgusted of.

"Five" she said rising up her left hand to show five extended fingers.

"Impressive. Kim Possible, how about you?"

"Just three" she muttered.

"What was that? Speak up!" he demanded.

"Just three, sir" she managed to say aloud.

That did not settle too well with Mr. Barkin whom set the papers down on his desk and clasped his hands behind his back. "Who did you interview?" he asked.

"Charles Robert Montry" said Ron, "It was a team effort."

Nodding in approval Mr. Barkin continued, "Name doesn't ring a bell and I know many veterans. Who are the other two?"

"His crew from the Brown Water Navy a Mr. Vicent and Yarbrough of New York" Ron continued. Rufus handed up a slip of paper with all of the information from his pocket.

"Ah, yes" Mr. Barkin smirked, "I remember those guys. On those swift boats tearing the countryside apart…"

"Mr. Barkin?"

"Nothing, let's continue."

He sat down behind his desk and grabbed the first paper from the stack, "While I read these," he said to the class, "I want you all to read chapters three to five of your history books. There will be a page due on what you read due tomorrow". There was a groan throughout the classroom.

"Silence!" and there was silence in the class as the students opened up their books and began to read. While skimming through the chapter Kim glanced up and something caught her eye in the doorway of the room. It was a man, about six feet tall, wearing green fatigues. Robert? Before she could even blink the image was gone and there was nothing left but a void in the doorway.

"What is it?" whispered Ron.

"Oh, nothing, thought I saw someone" she whispered back. The two continued to read though the chapter until the bell rang and the class was dismissed. As they were about to leave the room, Mr. Barkin stopped them, "Possible! Stoppable!" he yelled.

"Yes, Mr. Barkin?" Ron replied nervously.

"Where did you meet this Mr. Montry?" he said while reading through their typed up paper.

"He lives down the street from us," Ron standing before the teacher.

"This seems a little fishy to me" he growled, "But he signed the paper so I guess I'll have no choice but to accept it. Now get out of here".

"That was interesting." said Ron as they walked down the hallway, "I thought he didn't sign the paper.

"I thought so, as well" concurred Kim as they navigated through the throng of students towards her locker. Opening it up she removed her backpack and placed her history books back in. Before she could shut the door there was Bonnie on a intercept course.

"Oh geez," the red head growled.

"Well, well, Kim. Five to three" she said, "five to three. Try and beat that. How can three beat five?"

"Ours is much better" spat Ron. "Uh-huh" Rufus concurred. It was only an empty reinforcement.

"Thtt," scoffed Bonnie, "My five can beat your three with their hands tied behind their backs."

"Care to prove that?" said Kim taking a few steps closer to her opponent, eyes narrow in a angry scowl.

Not intimidated Bonnie said, "Sure thing. Mr. Barkin will tell us when he hands us back our grades tomorrow." Finished the brown headed cheerleader departed with a smirk on her face that Kim would love nothing more than to smack off, but she restrained herself in front of Ron. Hopefully, she prayed, her paper will spark enough interest in the man that he will mark the paper with an A. Walking to the cafeteria the two settled down to a hot meal of a burrito and chips. Ron could not restrain himself any further and dove into the meal just like Kim did with her cookies. He lifted up his head from his plate, it was smeared with bean paste and melted cheese. Disgusting but his innocent face brought a smile to the red head. The Kimunicator suddenly beeped and she immediately pulled it out of her pocket and turned on the monitor, "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Dr. Drekkan has broken into the chemical plant on the outskirts of town. I have pulled up the files and there is an acid stored there that can burn through titanium alloy and reinforced steel."

"Like a bank safe" noted Kim.

"Exactly"

"We're on our way!"

"But, I'm not finished," Ron complained, but Kim heard nothing of it. She pulled her friend by the scruff of the collar while Rufus down one more chip then jumped on his owner's shoulder while they exited out of the cafeteria.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I own the others.

Dr. Drakken was surely in a position to commit a bank robbery. Of all the places he could have gone to raid it had to be a bank. On second thought, taking over the world he would need a lot of money. Inside Middletown's First National Bank the blue skinned doctor had already done the deed, making off with one million dollars. Gathered around the safe melted vault were detectives and police, but none of them could draw up a conclusion like Kim Possible. Examining the scene carefully the locking mechanism was completely melted away. The detectives could not understand it as the lock was made of reinforced titanium. Kim was already one step ahead of them. It was a special acid. But fortunately one of the wads of money taken there was a tracking device. "Wade, can you track him?" Kim called into the Kimunicator. "Yep, give me a second." typing on the keyboard he drew a clear path to where Drakken was hiding. "You'll have to run, it's not far though. I've triangulated his position using the tracking device. It looks like an abandoned house in the slum portion of town".

"Gotcha, Wade, thanks."

Huffing it on foot the two went into the dark area of town, across the rail road tracks where gangs roved free and preyed on the weak, but the two could fend for themselves. Which house though? As they ran Kim looked into her Kimunicator that drew a steady pulse. The closer they came the faster the pulse. Then they happened to come across a sign, printed in red, "Drakken's lair".

"Thank you, Dr. Obvious" muttered Kim.

Stopping to conceal themselves behind a fence that was overgrown with weeds Ron immediately said, "Looks quiet".

Kim pulled out her pair thermo binoculars and had a look for herself. "Not as quiet as it seems. I count five at the door" she said then handed the glasses over to her friend to have a look for himself while she talked to Wade one more time, "I need a blue print to this house, can you pull that up?"

"Sure thing, just give me a second" a few strokes on the keyboard and up came the blue prints. "Judging by this there is an elevator that leads to a large basement."

"That's Drakken's lair" she said, "Ok, I got it, let's go"

"Right behind you, KP"

Running a short distance towards the front door Kim pressed her body against the wall next to it and looked at the door, or actually its lock. No doubt that it would be drummed up tighter than Fort Knox. "I'll need a distraction so I can pick this lock" she said.

"Gotcha, KP" he smiled. "But how? This place is locked up tighter than a drum."

"Find a window and throw something into it. While you do that I'll work to pry this lock. Make the biggest distraction you can." She pulled out her tool kit as Ron began to walk around towards the back of the house when Kim whispered to him, "Oh, hey, Ron, hang on to this" she said while handing over the small velvet box, "I might lose it. Now go, I need a distraction."

"On the way," he was carried as fast as his legs could go around the corner of the building. Immediately in front of him was a pile of empty crates that, when stacked, could lift him up to a window that he spied on the second level.

"This is too easy" he said as began to take crate after crate piling them up. When he reached the level he took a peek inside, there were no guards. "Too easy". He looked around for something to smash the window with and he began to lose his balance. These rotted boxes were full of holes, they would not be able to hold much longer, thus he decided to climb down. Decending a few steps he found a rusted iron bolt, a perfect throwing tool to break glass and alert the guards. "Huh, you know, I wonder if there's an easier way to distract them," he wondered. "Ah well" he arced his arm back and heaved the piece. It smashed the grimed caked window panes creating a cascade of razor sharp glass that fell to the floor immediately gaining everyone's attention.

"Wow, Ron. That's a big distraction," Kim complimented as she paused in her labors.

It's certainly sounded louder, but the Ron was not done. He could hear the guards on the inside, "Boo-yah" he said, but perhaps another tool would compel the guards to come towards him leaving the path clear for Kim to Drakken's lair. He began to search frantically for something heavy to bash in another window, and found another bolt. "Ah ha!" All he needed now was another window. The previous one was too predictable. If he could crash another one it would confuse them as to where the intruder is. His eyes looked up; a skylight. "Perfect!" He pulled back his throwing arm to give it a good toss.

"Aim higher," a voice came out from behind.

What? A quick glance over the shoulder and his eyes widened. There was a man, tall and dark, standing there. "Eep!" Rufus buried himself into his owner's pant pocket and shivered. "Mr. Montry!" he gasped. His whole body shivered. The temperature around him dropped to near freezing. His breath was clearly visible as he panted for air. The man's skin was pale white, clammy, and drenched in water. Worse, it was sagging, hanging from the bone. His uniform had gone from a solid olive drab to a more charred black. His boots were frayed and scuffed and a boonie hat on his head had its brim falling over his eyes. "You...you...can't be here. You're dead," his heart began to seize up. The soldier placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and felt the icy chill of death course through his body. "AIEE!"

On the other side of the building Kim was just about through the lock. There was no telling just how successful Ron's distraction was but she could hear heavy footsteps on the inside. "Come on, Ron" she cursed under her breath. She had gone through five hair picks trying to compromise the lock, but it was something different, it was solid and unmoving.

"You can't be here. You're dead" said Ron, "Everyone says so"

"Son, I may be dead but my mission is not over," Robert said calmly.

"Wait, I'm not ready to die! I want to live!" he squealed, "I have so much to live for."

"You do, I'm not here to kill you. That ring that Kim gave you, read it" he pointed to the bulging pocket on Ron's cargo pants.

"This is not the time to be reading"

"Read it" he sternly insisted.

Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box and opened it. The diamond was highly polished and the gold was pure. "Read the inscription" Robert nodded.

He did and the boy's jaw dropped.

"You can't be serious. This is so unreal".

"Tell her how you feel"

"I can't do that" he countered, "I'll be in weirdville central"

"If you don't do it now, you never will"

"I can't. I just can't"

"Son," Robert said, "You know what scared me the most?"

"What's that?"

"I could never sum up the courage to tell my girlfriend how much I truly loved her. I could never ask her to marry me. I saved up all of my money from my tour to buy this ring, but I didn't make it back to that plane trip back home. I came back in a coffin and my ring, along with all my possessions went to my folks. They boxed it all up and forgot about it. They couldn't bear losing their only son."

"That's tragic" said Ron, "But what about KP? We've been friends since we played in the sandbox."

"That's just it, son, I've seen the way you look at her and the way she looks at you. You two are meant for each other. If you don't do it now, you never will. You know what courage is? It's not standing up to a hail of bullets and asking to be hit. Courage is being oblivious to anything that stands in your way to your objective. You have it, you just don't' know it."

There was a warm sensation that grew in his heart. If it was true then the seeds of bravery had been planted, "Thanks, Mr. Montry" Ron said, "You think I'm ready?"

"As ready as you'll ever be"

There came footsteps. Ron's head turned and there were the guards watching him. "Who the hell you talking to?" He was still clutching the ring case in a awkward position. Chuckling nervously he said, "I…um…just practicing my proposal." The guards did not buy the gag and unsheathed their machetes.

"Uh, now, KP!" he shouted.

Hearing him Kim shoved in the door and Kim came charging in like the cavalry. Guards immediately back tracked, calling out, "Stop her!" But the slick teenager made a fast getaway before any of them could mount a proper defense. Left all alone, Ron said to himself, "I better catch up" closing the ring case and pocketing it. But how was he going to catch up to the much more agile Kim Possible he wondered. The guards led the way and once inside the building Ron pealed himself away to find a way down below. Rufus pointed out a opening in the floor. Looking down it was an abandoned elevator shaft. "I wonder how he could over look this." Shrugging his shoulders Ron put on his protective gloves and slid down a thick wire cable that took him down all the way down to the basement. When he landed he was in a dank environment with little light. Sounds were echoing around the corridors, it was a fight. He walked towards it and felt something warm envelope his body. "Alright, Ron Stoppable, time to be the hero" he said to himself as Rufus peeked his head out from the pocket just as Ron went around a corner and came face to face with Dr. Drakken.

"Mr. Plausible?" the blue skinned doctor asked.

"It's Stoppable!" Ron yelled. How many times had this goof ball called him every other name except his given name? This was it and he let his frustrations out with a hay maker to the face. "Boo-yah!" He cry was heard by Kim, "Ron?" but as the words left her lips Shego delivered a roundhouse kick to her face. Drakken scrambled to his feet, his face sore. "That hurt, you twit!"

"Then try this!" Ron said giving the thief a right hook that had enough force to knock out a molar.

"Ah! Ah! What gives? You've never treated me like this before," the man began to weep.

"I've had it with your lame brain antics" Ron grabbed the doctor by his collar and pulled his face towards his. Ron's voice was changing, "You've been nothing but a pain my butt for years. You've never changes, Drew. If you won't change your ways I'll do it for you." Drakken's eyes opened to their widest extent as he looked at Stoppable's face. It was beginning to change. The dimples were gone, the blonde hair changed to dark brown.

"Oh, God! I want my mommy!"

Kim heard the cries, but had her hands full with Shego. The money that had taken was piled up in a corner of the basement, all in bundles of all denominations and then there was an odd amount of loose money, ones and fives, that they swiped from registers. Kim could see the money, but she was concerned about Shego and her fiery hands of bright green energy. "How long have we been going at this, Shego?" Kim asked as she dodged the incoming fists of her opponent.

"Too long," the raven haired, checkered green and black clothed, fighter smiled, "But I enjoy it."

"Either way, eventually it will end," Kim said as she side stepped a right cross, grasped the wrist and flipped Shego forward making her land on her back on the cold slab of concrete. In the distance she could hear blows being dealt to flesh and bone, "Ow! Ow! Stop it! I give up!"

"Ron?" Kim called out, her voice echoing in the confines. It went unanswered. Shego struggled to her feet and the red head delivered a right hook to her jaw, knocking her down again. This allowed the heroine to slip away to find her friend. "Ron? Ron?" There were thick columns of concrete arrayed in square sections on the floor creating long, straight lines with wide gaps in between. Old crates, barrels, abandoned furniture, clothing, and mess were scattered about obstructing her view. "Ron? Ron?" she kept calling out, but still had no response.

"The money is lost, Ron, but at least we made it out of there," Kim sighed as they surveyed the scene. "No doubt that Drakken and Shego made it out of there, but at least…we won."

"Yeah, KP, we won" his voice was low, face pale, eyes just open showing no emotion. Standing together, looking at the ruins, there was a pause in a still, cold, night. Ron looked up at the twinkling starlight and a full moon was hovering above the buildings illuminating the landscape. It would be awhile before the police arrive and Kim wanted to leave, but before they could Ron pulled out from his pocket the ring case. Holding the light piece of jewelry in its bright red velvet case in his hand he remembered what Robert said to him. Kim was right there next to him, the words came to his lips, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. He then felt a nudge in his side and he finally said it, "KP, take a look at this."

"What is it, Ron?"

Opening the case the gold band somehow shined in the pale moonlight. "Here, read it."

Taking the halo in her palm Kim brought it up close to read the inscription, "To Anne. With all my love."

"Mom?" Kim whispered.

"I think so," Ron said as she handed it back, "I think you should talk to her, KP. We need to know what this all means."

Reluctantly Kim nodded in agreement, "Okay, I will. Come on, let's get out of here."

Departing from the scene, they left their enemies down below, in a cavity of the basement after the roof collapsed. "Doctor D?" Shego called out. There was dead silence. She picked through the wreckage and heard some whimpering, "Doctor D?" She found the man in the fetle position, sucking his thumb. "What happened?"

"It's Peanut Jelly Time!" he began to chant, his blue face now gone showing bleach white skin. It looked as though he saw a ghost.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Robert, he's mine.

"It's gorgeous," Anne said as she marveled the ring in her hand. "I…I'm speechless, Hon. How did Ron afford such a beauty?"

Kim's cheeks blushed red as her mother gawked at the gold band and the sharp diamond held tight by a wreath of silver, yes silver. Hearing Anne being charmed Dad came into the living room and was shown the ring.

"Hey, that's a real beauty, Kimmie. Did Ron give it to you?"

"Uh, yeah," she nodded.

"That Ron must have saved up money for several years to afford this" Dad continued.

"Must have" Kim concurred as she was handed the ring back, then she remembered the inscription inside. "Oh, Mom, can you…" she began but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"That must be Ron now" said Mother. "Come on in, Ronnie" she called out.

"Your boyfriend is here, Kim!" the tweebs sang from the staircase, "Kim and Ronnie sitting in a tree..."

In stepped a tall blonde man, a more confident Ron with his chin held high and a smirk on his lips. "Hello, all" he waved as he entered the living room.

"Ronnie, you sly dog" said Dad with a smile as he removed his pipe from his lips and stabbed the stem at the boy, "we saw the ring that you gave Kimmie. Tell me, how did you pay for a rock that big?"

"Oh," he laughed, "I had connections"

"Must be good for something that big" Mother giggled. "It's supper time, everyone."

As Ron sat down at the table, mother placed in front of him a small stack of a hot pot roast. Flanking him were the twins whom could not resist striking up a chorus, "Ron and Kimmie sitting in a tree, K..I...S...S...I...N...before the tweebs could finish Ron slid his arm around their shoulders took hold of the back of their heads and shoved them into their stacks of gravy. When they emerged they were covered dark brown goodness and there was utter silence at last. As they dined Kim, sitting across the table from Ron, felt something touch her ankle. Not showing emotion she let it be until it felt like a rubbing. Looking up she saw Ron smiling at her. Her cheeks were blushed; she lowered her head and carefully rubbed his ankle back. It went on and the family was none the wise.

"Will you be giving Kimmie a ride to school in the morning, Ron?" Dad asked.

"Sure thing," the freckled kid said as he finished his last bite of dinner.

"Okay then. Tonight, Kimmie Cub, you better go to bed early. I know how late you stay up studying. Well, not tonight. You hear me?"

"Yes, Dad" Kim smiled. A little while later Kim escorted Ron outside, onto the patio, being careful to close the door behind them.

"Oh seven hundred tomorrow?" Ron said, meaning seven in the morning. His comment caught her off guard and she fumbled for words finally smiling, "Yes, yes, Ron." There really was not much more to say, but the two were looking at each other, face to face, holding hands. They both had something to say, but nothing happened. He began to leave, but Kim still held on to his hand as they began to drift apart. When their arms were at the furthest extent she finally let go. "I'll be back," Ron said.

"I'll be waiting," she replied.

The next morning, at six fifty eight in the morning, Mother said to Kim, "You two better hurry or you'll be late"

"Sure thing, Mom" said Kim as she finished the last bite of her pancakes but not before stabbing the fluffing morsel and wiping the plate clean of the sweet rich syrup. There was a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, it was precisely 0700 hours. "Let's roll, KP," Ron smiled. Grabbing her book bag the two hustled out and walked towards Middleton High School. Ron was surprisingly confident about what was going to happen with Mr. Barkin's class. "I wonder if Bonnie actually did five veterans" said a worried Kim.

"Even if she did" Ron assured her, "there is no way she could top a Silver Star winner". Those words had a warming sensation on her body and soul and soon they were holding hands all the way towards the campus.

"All right, you bunch of wieners; I have graded all of your papers. For the most part I am pleased, but there are some of you that need to start explaining themselves, as in _right now! _Everyone gulped down hard as the papers were handed out. There were A's and B's but as Mr. Barkin went around the class he skipped Kim, Ron, and Bonnie's. With the last two papers in hand he stood in front of the class. "Possible, Stoppable, and Bonnie! Front and center!" Nervous and trembling the three stood up and walked to the front of the class where they were handed over the copies of their paper. "I want you to read them to the class" he instructed. Looking at each other in confusion Kim shrugged her shoulders, cleared her throat, and spoke first. "Our report is on Sergeant First Class Robert Montry Montry assigned to the River Marine Patrol in 1972 in the Providence of South Vietnam. On September 1st 1972 while on patrol near the village of My Tho Montry's boat, the King Kong, responded to another swift boat's pleas of distress. Arriving on the scene they were confronted by a vastly superior enemy but he placed his boat in a blocking position between the disabled swift boat and the coast line that was crawling with enemy soldiers. For two hours they fought the enemy off by calling in air strikes and artillery. Eventually the fire died off and medical evacuation helicopters could arrive to pull out the wounded. Sadly, all five of the crew died before they could be treated at the hospital. For their actions in the face of enemy fire Montry was awarded the Silver Star and the rest of his crew, Corporal Christopher Vincent and Privates Ryan Yarbrough, Marcus Antonio, and Daniel O'Rourke were awarded the bronze star with V device."

Lowering the paper down from her eyes she saw the class all staring at her, silent as the grave. Ron was the first to speak up. "Any questions?" he asked. It was the worst thing he could have said and Kim smacked herself in the head with the paper in anger as several hands went up.

"Where did you meet this veteran?" asked Mr. Barkin.

"At his home" said a sheepish Kim.

"Mr. Barkin, I personally don't believe their story" said Bonnie with her folded arms. She stood between Mr. Barkin and Kim and Ron. She looked at them back and forth as she spoke. "There is no proof that this veteran even exists. I personally believe they are making it up."

"You..." hissed Kim.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt" said Mr. Barkin, "you have till tomorrow to prove to me that this veteran of yours exists. I'm done with you fools taking me as a...fool. Now, Bonnie, let's hear what you have to say." Taking up her small stack of paper she read the header, "F" and it stopped her cold. She could not say another word. Just seeing the letter F made her body freeze up.

"Bonnie?" Kim called out.

"F?"

"That's right, Bonnie. You say that Possible and Stoppable's veteran did not exist. Well, I did some research of my own; these guys are not veterans at all. Just a bunch of fakes. Take your seat, Bonnie" Mr. Barkin instructed. She did so, but in a trance. Her body remained rigid, eyes wide as saucers and looking straight forward. Her palms were shaking and moist with sweat. How was that possible? All that hard work, and all for not. "I want to see you after class" Mr. Barkin said before he could start with his presentation on the emergence of communism in Russia during World War I. A real yawn a minute.

Lunch bell rang and there was a mad dash out the door, but Bonnie was the last one out. Her head was down; chin touching her chest, her neck length brown hair was a matted mess. At the cafeteria Ron and Kim found a table in which to sit. Monique joined them soon afterwards. "Hey, girl" she said with glee, "Guess what. I got an A on my paper"

"Really?" said Kim, "that's great. What did your father have to say?"

"A lot. It took awhile to crack the thick shell he had built up over the years, but once I did he had a lot to say. For instance, he was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge"

"What is that?" asked Ron as he stuffed his face with a taco.

"I'm not entirely sure, but to him it meant the world. He has it in a mantle in the den at our house." Monique continued, "But he hasn't said why or how he earned it."

"Really? Well, our veteran was a little more forthcoming" said Kim.

"Uh-huh" said Rufus as he bit down on a greasy flour chip

"But where did you meet this guy? Where does he live?"

"Oh? Right down from the street from me" said Ron as he swallowed and wiped his mouth clean of debris.

"I haven't heard of any veterans living anywhere near you, Ron. There are so few in town and they mostly live at the Veterans Hospital".

That may be true, but Kim and Ron knew the real truth, but they kept it to themselves. As they finished their meal the two of them, just the two of them, walked out into the parking lot to have a private conversation. The end of the semester was so close now that to miss one day would be a waste of a life time. "Ron," she started, "You know I care for you"

"I know you do, KP"

"But this ring, it belongs to someone else. I think we should find Robert's family and return it."

"Yeah, but how will we find them? They moved out over thirty years ago. The only one that might know would be the real estate agent. Yeah, he said he knew them personally."

"Right, come on," Kim said and began to depart, one hand still grasping Ron by the cuff of his sleeve.

"Waa..." Ron screamed as he was being dragged away.

At the estate offices of Marx and Carlsbad, from what Kim could remember was on the agent's car as he drove up, Kim jumped off Ron's mophead and charged in catching the secretary there off guard.

"Can I help you?" the elderly lady asked.

"Yes, I need to speak to one of your agents" Kim said between breaths.

"Which one would that be, ma'am?" the lady enquired.

"Whichever one is available, look, it's an emergency."

A tap on the phone and a whisper into the receiver and out came a tall, thin man, the same one that greeted them at the house. There was no mistaken.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Carlsbad. Can I help you?"

"Yes, we need to know who owned the house we saw back in the seventies before it was sold."

"Which house would that be, ma'am?"

"The one you saw us at"

There was a moment of pause then Mr. Carlsbad motioned with his hand, "Follow me" together, the three went into the back . All around them were shelves of books dating back to the forties. All the estates that had been sold in Middleton were on record here as they were the only real estate office in town. Mr. Carlsbad put on a pair of thin wire frame glasses and began to browse through the collection. After ten minutes of searching he finally struck gold. "Here we are" he said as he pulled out a thick brown leather bound book and placed it on his clean oak desk. Opening it up the pages were crisp, sharp, and dry. As he flipped through them they found that not many houses had been sold over the years until they finally found the one.

"Here it is. If I remember straight, the Montry family lived in that house until 1972 when their son died and they put the house up for sale and moved to the other side of town." He paused to remember where, "On Vixen Street." Ron was writing all this information on a pad of paper whilst Kim pulled out his Kimunicator and sent a message out to Wade. The image of the boy behind the computer came into frame.

"Wade, I need a genealogy search on the Montry family here in Middleton."

"I'm on it Kim, just give me a minute"

A moment passed then Wade was back on line. "I have it. There's a Marian Günter Montry still alive in Middleton."

"On Vixen Street?" Kim asked.

"Yeah. According to this she's his mother. It's 332 Vixen Street."

"Perfect. We're going to meet her right now."

"What's this all about, Kim?" Wade asked.

"It's a long story. I'll fill you in later."

Turning off the Kimunicator the two bid farewell to Mr. Carlsbad and made tracks on Ron's scooter towards Vixen Street. They had to hurry. There was only half an hour left during the lunch period and despite having wheels it was arduous slow pace.

"KP? Shouldn't we do this when we have more time?"

"No, Ron" she said, "I want to see her for myself." she said

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Robert, he's mine.

"It's gorgeous," Anne said as she marveled the ring in her hand. "I…I'm speechless, Hon. How did Ron afford such a beauty?"

Kim's cheeks blushed red as her mother gawked at the gold band and the sharp diamond held tight by a wreath of silver, yes silver. Hearing Anne being charmed Dad came into the living room and was shown the ring.

"Hey, that's a real beauty, Kimmie. Did Ron give it to you?"

"Uh, yeah," she nodded.

"That Ron must have saved up money for several years to afford this" Dad continued.

"Must have" Kim concurred as she was handed the ring back, then she remembered the inscription inside. "Oh, Mom, can you…" she began but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"That must be Ron now" said Mother. "Come on in, Ronnie" she called out.

"Your boyfriend is here, Kim!" the tweebs sang from the staircase, "Kim and Ronnie sitting in a tree..."

In stepped a tall blonde man, a more confident Ron with his chin held high and a smirk on his lips. "Hello, all" he waved as he entered the living room.

"Ronnie, you sly dog" said Dad with a smile as he removed his pipe from his lips and stabbed the stem at the boy, "we saw the ring that you gave Kimmie. Tell me, how did you pay for a rock that big?"

"Oh," he laughed, "I had connections"

"Must be good for something that big" Mother giggled. "It's supper time, everyone."

As Ron sat down at the table, mother placed in front of him a small stack of a hot pot roast. Flanking him were the twins whom could not resist striking up a chorus, "Ron and Kimmie sitting in a tree, K..I...S...S...I...N...before the tweebs could finish Ron slid his arm around their shoulders took hold of the back of their heads and shoved them into their stacks of gravy. When they emerged they were covered dark brown goodness and there was utter silence at last. As they dined Kim, sitting across the table from Ron, felt something touch her ankle. Not showing emotion she let it be until it felt like a rubbing. Looking up she saw Ron smiling at her. Her cheeks were blushed; she lowered her head and carefully rubbed his ankle back. It went on and the family was none the wise.

"Will you be giving Kimmie a ride to school in the morning, Ron?" Dad asked.

"Sure thing," the freckled kid said as he finished his last bite of dinner.

"Okay then. Tonight, Kimmie Cub, you better go to bed early. I know how late you stay up studying. Well, not tonight. You hear me?"

"Yes, Dad" Kim smiled. A little while later Kim escorted Ron outside, onto the patio, being careful to close the door behind them.

"Oh seven hundred tomorrow?" Ron said, meaning seven in the morning. His comment caught her off guard and she fumbled for words finally smiling, "Yes, yes, Ron." There really was not much more to say, but the two were looking at each other, face to face, holding hands. They both had something to say, but nothing happened. He began to leave, but Kim still held on to his hand as they began to drift apart. When their arms were at the furthest extent she finally let go. "I'll be back," Ron said.

"I'll be waiting," she replied.

The next morning, at six fifty eight in the morning, Mother said to Kim, "You two better hurry or you'll be late"

"Sure thing, Mom" said Kim as she finished the last bite of her pancakes but not before stabbing the fluffing morsel and wiping the plate clean of the sweet rich syrup. There was a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, it was precisely 0700 hours. "Let's roll, KP," Ron smiled. Grabbing her book bag the two hustled out and walked towards Middleton High School. Ron was surprisingly confident about what was going to happen with Mr. Barkin's class. "I wonder if Bonnie actually did five veterans" said a worried Kim.

"Even if she did" Ron assured her, "there is no way she could top a Silver Star winner". Those words had a warming sensation on her body and soul and soon they were holding hands all the way towards the campus.

"All right, you bunch of wieners; I have graded all of your papers. For the most part I am pleased, but there are some of you that need to start explaining themselves, as in _right now! _Everyone gulped down hard as the papers were handed out. There were A's and B's but as Mr. Barkin went around the class he skipped Kim, Ron, and Bonnie's. With the last two papers in hand he stood in front of the class. "Possible, Stoppable, and Bonnie! Front and center!" Nervous and trembling the three stood up and walked to the front of the class where they were handed over the copies of their paper. "I want you to read them to the class" he instructed. Looking at each other in confusion Kim shrugged her shoulders, cleared her throat, and spoke first. "Our report is on Sergeant First Class Robert Montry Montry assigned to the River Marine Patrol in 1972 in the Providence of South Vietnam. On September 1st 1972 while on patrol near the village of My Tho Montry's boat, the King Kong, responded to another swift boat's pleas of distress. Arriving on the scene they were confronted by a vastly superior enemy but he placed his boat in a blocking position between the disabled swift boat and the coast line that was crawling with enemy soldiers. For two hours they fought the enemy off by calling in air strikes and artillery. Eventually the fire died off and medical evacuation helicopters could arrive to pull out the wounded. Sadly, all five of the crew died before they could be treated at the hospital. For their actions in the face of enemy fire Montry was awarded the Silver Star and the rest of his crew, Corporal Christopher Vincent and Privates Ryan Yarbrough, Marcus Antonio, and Daniel O'Rourke were awarded the bronze star with V device."

Lowering the paper down from her eyes she saw the class all staring at her, silent as the grave. Ron was the first to speak up. "Any questions?" he asked. It was the worst thing he could have said and Kim smacked herself in the head with the paper in anger as several hands went up.

"Where did you meet this veteran?" asked Mr. Barkin.

"At his home" said a sheepish Kim.

"Mr. Barkin, I personally don't believe their story" said Bonnie with her folded arms. She stood between Mr. Barkin and Kim and Ron. She looked at them back and forth as she spoke. "There is no proof that this veteran even exists. I personally believe they are making it up."

"You..." hissed Kim.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt" said Mr. Barkin, "you have till tomorrow to prove to me that this veteran of yours exists. I'm done with you fools taking me as a...fool. Now, Bonnie, let's hear what you have to say." Taking up her small stack of paper she read the header, "F" and it stopped her cold. She could not say another word. Just seeing the letter F made her body freeze up.

"Bonnie?" Kim called out.

"F?"

"That's right, Bonnie. You say that Possible and Stoppable's veteran did not exist. Well, I did some research of my own; these guys are not veterans at all. Just a bunch of fakes. Take your seat, Bonnie" Mr. Barkin instructed. She did so, but in a trance. Her body remained rigid, eyes wide as saucers and looking straight forward. Her palms were shaking and moist with sweat. How was that possible? All that hard work, and all for not. "I want to see you after class" Mr. Barkin said before he could start with his presentation on the emergence of communism in Russia during World War I. A real yawn a minute.

Lunch bell rang and there was a mad dash out the door, but Bonnie was the last one out. Her head was down; chin touching her chest, her neck length brown hair was a matted mess. At the cafeteria Ron and Kim found a table in which to sit. Monique joined them soon afterwards. "Hey, girl" she said with glee, "Guess what. I got an A on my paper"

"Really?" said Kim, "that's great. What did your father have to say?"

"A lot. It took awhile to crack the thick shell he had built up over the years, but once I did he had a lot to say. For instance, he was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge"

"What is that?" asked Ron as he stuffed his face with a taco.

"I'm not entirely sure, but to him it meant the world. He has it in a mantle in the den at our house." Monique continued, "But he hasn't said why or how he earned it."

"Really? Well, our veteran was a little more forthcoming" said Kim.

"Uh-huh" said Rufus as he bit down on a greasy flour chip

"But where did you meet this guy? Where does he live?"

"Oh? Right down from the street from me" said Ron as he swallowed and wiped his mouth clean of debris.

"I haven't heard of any veterans living anywhere near you, Ron. There are so few in town and they mostly live at the Veterans Hospital".

That may be true, but Kim and Ron knew the real truth, but they kept it to themselves. As they finished their meal the two of them, just the two of them, walked out into the parking lot to have a private conversation. The end of the semester was so close now that to miss one day would be a waste of a life time. "Ron," she started, "You know I care for you"

"I know you do, KP"

"But this ring, it belongs to someone else. I think we should find Robert's family and return it."

"Yeah, but how will we find them? They moved out over thirty years ago. The only one that might know would be the real estate agent. Yeah, he said he knew them personally."

"Right, come on," Kim said and began to depart, one hand still grasping Ron by the cuff of his sleeve.

"Waa..." Ron screamed as he was being dragged away.

At the estate offices of Marx and Carlsbad, from what Kim could remember was on the agent's car as he drove up, Kim jumped off Ron's mophead and charged in catching the secretary there off guard.

"Can I help you?" the elderly lady asked.

"Yes, I need to speak to one of your agents" Kim said between breaths.

"Which one would that be, ma'am?" the lady enquired.

"Whichever one is available, look, it's an emergency."

A tap on the phone and a whisper into the receiver and out came a tall, thin man, the same one that greeted them at the house. There was no mistaken.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Carlsbad. Can I help you?"

"Yes, we need to know who owned the house we saw back in the seventies before it was sold."

"Which house would that be, ma'am?"

"The one you saw us at"

There was a moment of pause then Mr. Carlsbad motioned with his hand, "Follow me" together, the three went into the back . All around them were shelves of books dating back to the forties. All the estates that had been sold in Middleton were on record here as they were the only real estate office in town. Mr. Carlsbad put on a pair of thin wire frame glasses and began to browse through the collection. After ten minutes of searching he finally struck gold. "Here we are" he said as he pulled out a thick brown leather bound book and placed it on his clean oak desk. Opening it up the pages were crisp, sharp, and dry. As he flipped through them they found that not many houses had been sold over the years until they finally found the one.

"Here it is. If I remember straight, the Montry family lived in that house until 1972 when their son died and they put the house up for sale and moved to the other side of town." He paused to remember where, "On Vixen Street." Ron was writing all this information on a pad of paper whilst Kim pulled out his Kimunicator and sent a message out to Wade. The image of the boy behind the computer came into frame.

"Wade, I need a genealogy search on the Montry family here in Middleton."

"I'm on it Kim, just give me a minute"

A moment passed then Wade was back on line. "I have it. There's a Marian Günter Montry still alive in Middleton."

"On Vixen Street?" Kim asked.

"Yeah. According to this she's his mother. It's 332 Vixen Street."

"Perfect. We're going to meet her right now."

"What's this all about, Kim?" Wade asked.

"It's a long story. I'll fill you in later."

Turning off the Kimunicator the two bid farewell to Mr. Carlsbad and made tracks on Ron's scooter towards Vixen Street. They had to hurry. There was only half an hour left during the lunch period and despite having wheels it was arduous slow pace.

"KP? Shouldn't we do this when we have more time?"

"No, Ron" she said, "I want to see her for myself." she said.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own the characters to Kim Possible, they are owned by Disney. I own everyone else.

As they bumped around on Ron's scooter Kim was going over the address in her mind. 332, 332, 332. They found Vixen Street and turned right from West Corinth. Ron eased off the accelerator and the engine began to slow to an idle.

"This looks like the place" said Kim as she dismounted the scooter and stepped onto the sidewalk. There was a beautiful house in front of them with egg shell white wood paneling with a base of bright red brick. Reading the metal on the sidewalk it read, 332Vixen Street. Together they walked up the clean walkway to the front door. Red roses were in bloom giving off a sweet aroma to their noses. Ron was somewhat apprehensive as Kim gently rapped on the brass knocker. After several seconds there was a turn of a lock a pull of the door and a petite old lady's eyes could be seen looking out through the sliver between the door and it's frame. Her soft voice called out to Kim, "Can I help you?"

"Are you Mrs. Montry?" she asked.

"Why yes" opening the door further. As the light flooded through the doorway it showed her full pale face. The years had not been kind to the old lady. Bags were under her soft brown eyes and her cheeks were sagging, but she was able to move around with little difficulty. Her clothes were robes and shoes were slippers as she graced the tiles of the floor.

"I'm Kim Possible" she introduced, "and this is Ron Stoppable. We have something that I believe belongs to you." Holding out in her open hand was the ring with the diamond that glistened in the sun. Instantly the old lady's eyes opened. She knew immediately what it was. "Oh my" the old lady gasped, "That was Robert's! Where did you find it?"

"We found it in a trunk at your old house" said Kim.

"I thought it was lost so long ago," she carefully took the ring from Kim's hand and held it in hers. "When he left for Vietnam he sent the money to me to buy it and to have it inscribed. He wanted it done to his specifications. It was to be special. When he died I felt that the whole world had died along with him. My husband did not say a word for a whole month. Instead, he sat in the den wept over the flag that the Army gave us. We packed up everything and tried to put it all away from our minds. We moved away and I guess we forgot about it. Twenty years ago my husband died of a broken heart and since then I have been living all by myself. I had never remarried and had no other children."

"That's tragic" said Kim.

"Oh child, he was such a handsome boy. He was the comedian and the worker of the family. Always willing to his best. He could do anything. He had a 3.8 GPA rating in school and was on the football team."

"Wow" remarked Ron.

"Come in" she said.

Ushered inside the two teenagers were immediately introduced to family portraits and photos. To the wall on the right was a piano and on it were several portraits of her family. Ron stopped to observe the photos in the hall as Kim and Mrs. Montry continued on towards the piano. "That's my family" the old lady began picking up one of the frames. "This is my husband" pointing out a six foot tall man in full Class A US Air Force Uniform and next to him was a equally tall US Army Sergeant, "And that is my son."

"That's Robert?" Kim pointed out.

"Yes, child" she said. "How did you know his first name?"

"Oh, I saw his portrait in the trunk that you left in the house."

"He was such a handsome boy" she continued smiling, gently caressing the glass. After a moment she set the picture down and reached behind the line of others pulling out a highly polished brass frame that housed a small black and white photo. Kim immediately recognized Robert in his uniform, but standing next to him was a woman in a beautiful gown. Mrs. Montry saw Kim's eyes widened, she was holding back emotion.

"That's Anne, Robert's sweetheart. She was such a lovely girl with beautiful red hair, much like yours. This was taken when he was home on leave." In giving the portrait back Kim looked over her shoulder to see Ron staring at the pictures on the wall. He was fascinated by all the singles, but one in particular caught his fancy. There was no mistaken Robert with his square jaw and piercing eyes. He wore the stripes of a sergeant first class on the biceps of his fatigues. It was an older picture; it looked like it was taken when he was in Vietnam. Mrs. Montry continued, "He was so good in what he did that he was promoted so quickly. We were so proud of him. My husband wanted him to retire and return home but the Army, instead, transferred him to Vietnam, he was only three months shy of coming home when he died." A tear formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Gently she brushed it away from her eyes with her fingers and continued, "Anne was Robbie's one and only love. When he died we never heard from her again. I haven't really bothered to look either way. We figured she was equally as heartbroken. We packed all of his belongings in a trunk and placed it in the attic and I guess we forgot about it. If you could return it I would appreciate it."

"We will, Mrs. Montry. We must be going" said Kim.

"Yes, dear, but before you go. I want you to have the ring. Keep it. If you happen to find Anne I want you to give it back to her. Do Robert the honor of returning this memento to his one true love."

"I will"

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own the characters to Kim Possible, they are owned by Disney. I own everyone else.

As they bumped around on Ron's scooter Kim was going over the address in her mind. 332, 332, 332. They found Vixen Street and turned right from West Corinth. Ron eased off the accelerator and the engine began to slow to an idle.

"This looks like the place" said Kim as she dismounted the scooter and stepped onto the sidewalk. There was a beautiful house in front of them with egg shell white wood paneling with a base of bright red brick. Reading the metal on the sidewalk it read, 332Vixen Street. Together they walked up the clean walkway to the front door. Red roses were in bloom giving off a sweet aroma to their noses. Ron was somewhat apprehensive as Kim gently rapped on the brass knocker. After several seconds there was a turn of a lock a pull of the door and a petite old lady's eyes could be seen looking out through the sliver between the door and it's frame. Her soft voice called out to Kim, "Can I help you?"

"Are you Mrs. Montry?" she asked.

"Why yes" opening the door further. As the light flooded through the doorway it showed her full pale face. The years had not been kind to the old lady. Bags were under her soft brown eyes and her cheeks were sagging, but she was able to move around with little difficulty. Her clothes were robes and shoes were slippers as she graced the tiles of the floor.

"I'm Kim Possible" she introduced, "and this is Ron Stoppable. We have something that I believe belongs to you." Holding out in her open hand was the ring with the diamond that glistened in the sun. Instantly the old lady's eyes opened. She knew immediately what it was. "Oh my" the old lady gasped, "That was Robert's! Where did you find it?"

"We found it in a trunk at your old house" said Kim.

"I thought it was lost so long ago," she carefully took the ring from Kim's hand and held it in hers. "When he left for Vietnam he sent the money to me to buy it and to have it inscribed. He wanted it done to his specifications. It was to be special. When he died I felt that the whole world had died along with him. My husband did not say a word for a whole month. Instead, he sat in the den wept over the flag that the Army gave us. We packed up everything and tried to put it all away from our minds. We moved away and I guess we forgot about it. Twenty years ago my husband died of a broken heart and since then I have been living all by myself. I had never remarried and had no other children."

"That's tragic" said Kim.

"Oh child, he was such a handsome boy. He was the comedian and the worker of the family. Always willing to his best. He could do anything. He had a 3.8 GPA rating in school and was on the football team."

"Wow" remarked Ron.

"Come in" she said.

Ushered inside the two teenagers were immediately introduced to family portraits and photos. To the wall on the right was a piano and on it were several portraits of her family. Ron stopped to observe the photos in the hall as Kim and Mrs. Montry continued on towards the piano. "That's my family" the old lady began picking up one of the frames. "This is my husband" pointing out a six foot tall man in full Class A US Air Force Uniform and next to him was a equally tall US Army Sergeant, "And that is my son."

"That's Robert?" Kim pointed out.

"Yes, child" she said. "How did you know his first name?"

"Oh, I saw his portrait in the trunk that you left in the house."

"He was such a handsome boy" she continued smiling, gently caressing the glass. After a moment she set the picture down and reached behind the line of others pulling out a highly polished brass frame that housed a small black and white photo. Kim immediately recognized Robert in his uniform, but standing next to him was a woman in a beautiful gown. Mrs. Montry saw Kim's eyes widened, she was holding back emotion.

"That's Anne, Robert's sweetheart. She was such a lovely girl with beautiful red hair, much like yours. This was taken when he was home on leave." In giving the portrait back Kim looked over her shoulder to see Ron staring at the pictures on the wall. He was fascinated by all the singles, but one in particular caught his fancy. There was no mistaken Robert with his square jaw and piercing eyes. He wore the stripes of a sergeant first class on the biceps of his fatigues. It was an older picture; it looked like it was taken when he was in Vietnam. Mrs. Montry continued, "He was so good in what he did that he was promoted so quickly. We were so proud of him. My husband wanted him to retire and return home but the Army, instead, transferred him to Vietnam, he was only three months shy of coming home when he died." A tear formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Gently she brushed it away from her eyes with her fingers and continued, "Anne was Robbie's one and only love. When he died we never heard from her again. I haven't really bothered to look either way. We figured she was equally as heartbroken. We packed all of his belongings in a trunk and placed it in the attic and I guess we forgot about it. If you could return it I would appreciate it."

"We will, Mrs. Montry. We must be going" said Kim.

"Yes, dear, but before you go. I want you to have the ring. Keep it. If you happen to find Anne I want you to give it back to her. Do Robert the honor of returning this memento to his one true love."

"I will"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own the characters to Kim Possible, they are owned by Disney. I own everyone else.

"Come on, Ron. Step on it" Kim shouted above the purr of the scooter.

"I know, KP, I'm going as fast as I can," Ron shouted as he leaned forward, gripping the handle bars tightly.

While they went a dozen questions were abuzz in her mind. Mrs. Montry was a gentle soul, but there was a void in her questions. She forgot about her chest in the attic in her old house, but why? It was so important, it contained the remains of her only son's mementos of service, his uniform and medals how could she forget about it? There was no answer. All she could do was perhaps return to the house and perhaps salvage the chest and return it to Mrs. Montry, but that would have to be at a later day. Right now, they were focused on returning to school without being late. Running through the hallways, pushing through the throngs of students that were on their way to class, Ron and Kim, our two heroes, barely made back in time before the tardy bell rang. Mr. Barkin was standing by the door counting the seconds that ticked by on the clock that was suspended above the door frame as the children slid on in. With great skill Kim and Ron were the last ones in with only a few seconds to spare.

"Possible, Stoppable, you barely made it" he said.

"I know, Mr. B" said Ron, "we have a long run."

"Be on time, next time"

"Sure thing, Mr. B"

Finding their seats they sat down, but Ron was uncomfortable. His stomach growled because he was running on empty for missing his meal of nachos and so did Rufus's as who buried himself into the backpack of his owner to find the scraps of candy bars and meals of long ago for a meal. He had little luck.

"Alright you bunch of retards, after reading your assignments I'm pleased to announce that most of you have passed. After much thought and deliberations there will be one that will be printed on the front page of the newspaper on Veteran's Day."

"Yes" said Kim as she reclined in her seat.

"Steady yourself Possible. I didn't say it would be you" Mr. Barkin added. "Even though you had an A so did many others." Mr. Barkin continued, "Use the rest of the period to go over your papers, class. I want a review of your work stating to me why your veteran should be the one printed in the newspaper. I want an argument, people. Show me what you're made of."

Students sighed in frustration. Fishing out their papers Ron scooted closer to Kim to go over their work. Instead of writing their review the two discussed what their next move would be regarding the chest. "When school gets out we'll go to Charles' house, get that chest, and return it to his mother."

"Okay, KP" Ron said playfully working his pen over a piece of paper to simulate writing. In his mind the review was worthless. Mister Barkin was just giving them an assignment to keep the students busy while he read a novel behind his desk. "But can we eat first?"

When the bell rang there was a mad dash towards the outside world, students throwing their review papers onto Barkin's desk and running as fast as they could before he could catch them. With the ring held tightly in one hand Kim approached her locker, spun the lock combination, opened it and called for Wade. He came on the small monitor.

"What's up, Kim?" he said.

"Wade, I need a favor"

"Sure thing"

"Can you pull of military records on a Charles Charles Montry? He served in 1972"

"It will take a bit, but I'll try my best."

"Thanks, Wade"

Shutting the door the two continued the long walk towards Kim's house where a large stack of chocolate chip cookies were waiting. "Boo-yah, that's what I'm talking about" yelled Ron as he dived on into them followed by Rufus. There was a flurry of dough and chips as they tore into their prey with fury. Taking a hand full Ron went upstairs with Kim. "I still have Mr. Yarbrough's number. I'm going to give him a call."

"What for?" Ron asked sinking his teeth into a cookie.

"I have a few questions for him. Then we can put this matter to bed," the teenager sighed as she dropped her backpack on the floor, picked up the receiver to her phone, and sat on her bed. In one hand was a sliver of paper with the numbers of both surviving veterans and she waited patiently as the phone rang several times. Finally, someone answered with a thick, heavy voice, "Hello?"

"Yes, hello, is this Mr. Yarbrough?"

"Yes, it is"

"Hi, my name is Kim"

"Yes, child, I spoke with you earlier."

"Yes, I have some more questions to ask you about your service."

"Well, shoot, this is incredible. No one has ever shown this much interest in me before, not even my family. Child, I was on a river boat in the Mekong Delta fighting infiltrators and weapons caches. We were ambushed many times, and each time we managed to pull through because of our captain."

"You mean Charles Montry?"

"Yes, it was because of his leadership and quick thinking that allowed us to punch through the ambushes and nab the bad guys. Anyway, when Montry left Vietnam we were near the end of our own tour. We were given a new captain, but we had only three months left."

"What happened then?"

"We went home, but it wasn't the same as when we left. I was in the army for eight years, I went out as a sergeant and everything had changed. We had a new president, a war was coming to an end, a revolution was starting in our own country, and everything was starting anew."

"Mr. Yarbrough, about Mr. Montry, can you tell us the day that he died?"

"Yes, child" he drew a deep breath, cleared his throat and began to speak, while at the same time Kim picked up a pad of paper and a pen and began to scribble down what he dictated: "We were operating the King Kong in the waters of the Mekong Delta on September 1st 1972. We were operating twenty-three miles from our FOB when a rocket propelled grenade from the water's edge struck our engine and we began to smoke. O'Rourke came forward and said that we were dead in the water. We came to a halt and that's when the heavy stuff began to hit us. All around there were rockets and artillery raining down; geysers splashed throwing huge buckets of water on us like rain. While O'Rourke worked on the engine to get it working again the rest of us manned our weapons to beat back our attackers. They were in the trees then two sampans came up and I could see people on them firing AKs at us. They were standing right in the open with determination in their eyes. Bullets were whizzing past our heads. They didn't care. We aimed carefully and fired off burst after burst at those on the sampans and we obliterated them and they sank in a matter of moments. Marcus was on the forward twin fifty cal raking the tree line while Vincent was on the rear fifty guarding the rear. Montry was on the radio as well working the grenade launcher. He first rounds into the tee line after the gunners saw muzzle flashes. We fought for fifteen minutes, dead in the water, but by some stroke of luck we were not hit, only sprayed by water. At last, O'Rourke came through and the engine revved up and we were underway at last. We ducked and weaved our way down the river and made it out of the kill zone. Once out we did a damage assessment. We counted fifty three bullet holes in the boat. O'Rourke came up to tell Montry that the engine was working at one hundred percent when he saw that he was sprawled out on the deck. Antonio and Yarbrough both rush to his aid, but there was nothing we could do, he had been shot through the chest, right through the heart." The man began to weep into the receiver. His sobs began to make Kim sob as well. She wiped away the tears by setting the pen aside and brushing the tears away from her eyes.

"Mr. Yarbrough?"

"Child, if only you could have been through the hardships we have faced for a year. Warm beer, tropical climates, snipers, and rats, oh the hardships we faced."

"What happened after the ambush, sir?"

"We moved down river to our base and off loaded Montry's body to be transported back to the states. He was a good man. He looked after us and made sure that our boat was in good shape. If it wasn't for him we would have made it the nine months of our tour alive. It was afterwards that we were told that for our actions we would be awarded the Bronze Star with V device while Charles was selected to receive the Silver Star. It was due to our selfless act of saving another river patrol boat on that day." Writing all of this down Kim could only listen as the veteran opened up his heart to her. Ron sat on at the edge of bed munching on cookies and drinking that ice cold milk while Rufus dined on the crumbs.

"Nine months in country and I was awarded nine different decorations for valor, but the one I'm most proud of was the bronze star that I earned with Sergeant Montry. He was the best." Near the end of the conversation Yarbrough asked, "Why do you ask me this, child?"

"Mr. Yarbrough" she asked, "Did you have any contact with Montry's family after his death?"

"No. I sent them a letter, but never heard a reply. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, but did Charles ever mention a girl named Kim to you?"

"Yes, he did"

"Can you tell me what her last name was?"

For a moment there was a pause as the old veteran scratched his head. The blood in Kim pulsed. There was a rush of excitement. This was it. She was at last going to find out the name of the long lost soul of the ring bearer.

"Anne. Anne Possible"

Kim was flabbergasted. It was all true. Her mother was suppose to marry Charles. "Hello? Are you there?" Mr. Yarborough asked.

"Sir," she said after a moment of dead silence, "my last name is Possible, Kim Possible. Anne is my mother."

"You're kidding, child" Yarbrough was heard to laugh into the receiver, "I'm surprised. I guess you find the needle in the haystack. Your mother was a beautiful one, but I don't know what happened to her after Charles died. I guess she moved on."

"Yeah, I guess she did. Anyway, thank you, Mr. Yarbrough, you've been very helpful."

"You're quite welcome, goodbye."

Hanging up the phone there was a look of determination in her eye as Kim walked calmly out of her room and down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen where her mother was baking a fresh batch of cookies.

"Just a few more minutes and they'll be ready" she sang as she scooped the soft morsels onto a large plate on the kitchen table.

"Mom, I need to talk to you about something"

"Why, of course dear"

"Who is Charles Montry...?"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Robert Saint.

"Mom, what do you know about Robert Saint?"

Upon hearing those few words mother dropped everything that she was doing. Dishes fell into the sink with a clatter, but the faucet continued to run hot water as she gathered her thoughts to say something in response. After a brief pause she looked up at the window that over looked the sink and saw her little girl in the reflection standing behind her. "What was that, dear?" she nervously replied as if she did not hear her.

"I said what do you know about Sergeant Robert Saint?"

Anne Possible picked up a dish rag and wiped her hands clean then turned off the faucet. Once dry she walked over and sat down at the table, "Sit down Kimmie" Kim did as she was told and, sitting on opposite ends of the table the two looked at each other for a tense moment until Anne spoke first, "Yes, Kimmie, I know Robert. We were high school sweethearts. When he went into the Army had to leave to different states before we could do anything, so I became a Army contractor in the hopes that I could be near him. He came back before he was sent overseas and we threw one heck of a party. Being the nice guy that he was Robert introduced me to your dad. Your father was so shy that he back himself into a corner of the room." Anne began to laugh lightly, "Robert actually dragged him to me just to say hi. We hit it off immediately and for the rest of the night we laughed, danced, drank, and danced some more. We lost all track of time. There was no possible way of separating us. When he had to leave though Charles told me that he was going to Vietnam and I nearly lost it. So much death was happening over there and I knew that it was really a volunteer assignment. I accused him of deceiving me. He told me that he needed the money to save up for something special, but he wouldn't tell me what it was."

"When did you hear that Robert was killed?" Kim asked.

"About the same time his family did" Anne responded. "It was all over the home town news. He was a good man. A hero of sorts. Boys aspired to be him."

"But what happened to his parents?"

"His family use to live not far from here, but they left without saying anything. I don't know where they live now."

Kim chuckled nervously, "I know where they live."

"You do? Where?"

"They live near the high school, on Vixen Street."

"How do you know that?" enquired Anne as she leaned forward with her hands clasped together in front of her body.

"Well, we kinda did some snooping around and we found out where she lived..."

"Kimmie, you know better than to be bothering an old lady like Mrs. Saint" Anne admonished.

"I'm sorry, mom, but I had to. The ring that Ron gave me, it belonged to Robert and he was supposed to give it to you. I felt really bad so I decided that we should return it."

"That's noble of you" said Anne, "Did you give it back to her?"

"No, she said I should keep it"

"Keep it? Why?"

"Well, she actually told me to give it to Robert's true love." Reaching into her pocket Kim pulled out the case and placed it on the table, gently pushing it across the surface to her mother. As the case neared her Anne unclasped her hands and began to lean into her seat.

Upstairs Ron was laid on Kim's bed. So much was going through his mind. He had given Kim the ring and confessed his heart to her but now he had a nagging feeling in that same heart that something was amiss. What if she did not feel the same way? Like the "I love you but I'm not in love of you" kind of thing. Fighting through his thoughts Rufus rubbed owner's shoulders to reassure him that everything was going to be alright when he heard his name being called out. Fighting to a sitting position he managed to walk into the kitchen. "Ron, Hon, Kimmie told me about Robert."

"Oh" he sheepishly replied, one hand rubbing the back of his head.

"I need you to do something for me. Go to Robert's house and take that chest to his mother's house. And, return the ring."

"But mom…" Kim began, but Anne held up a hand to silence her.

"What's done is done, Kimmie. I love Robert. I still do, but my heart belongs to your father. I need you to return the ring. Now go you two" she ordered.

Getting up from her seat Ron and Kim went outside and jumped onto the scooter. Kim dawned Ron's helmet and together they went down the driveway and went off into the growing sunset. "Tally ho!" shouted Ron as he gunned his motor and gained an extra five miles per hour down the paved road. Go fish out a old chest from a haunted house in the darkness. Sounds like something for Halloween.

Anne was still sitting in the kitchen, head slightly tilted down, and hands before her, deep in thought. When her husband came home she did not respond immediately. The kids were still out. It would take awhile for them to get the chest and either come home or take it to the Saint household. Either way, she thought it would keep them out of the house allowing the two to talk in private. What she had to say would be hard, but she could not keep the secret forever. They had been married for over twenty years, been through so much and yet, she was worried that this little secret would tear them apart, but she knew that to keep it buried would only aggravate it further.

"Wow, this thing is heavier than I thought," Ron said as he carried it down the flimsy stairs from the attic. Kim said nothing, just holding up a flashlight to illuminate the way. They made it outside and shut the door. Kim was forced to pick the lock to gain entry, but since no one was living here no one would mind, this was a rescue mission. Ron handed the chest over to Kim as they sat down on the scooter and rolled down the road. It was past dark by the time she returned home. In the living room she found her mom and dad hugging each other on the couch. They did not say anything when she came in but the girl knew what had happened just by observing and decided to leave it be and go to her room. Throwing her worn out body onto her bed, belly first, Kim still had the ring case in her hands. She had tried to give it back to Mrs. Saint, but still persisted that Anne should have. "If she won't take it back, then you keep it," Mrs. Saint told her. "At least someone in your family would benefit from it. It was meant for two lovers." What was so important about this little ring? Placing the box on the night stand she curled up and turned out the lights for the night.

The alarm clock blared at seven. Turning it off Kim rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and prepared for a new day. First thing to do was get out of these old clothes, take a shower and get ready for school. Scrubbing her body clean she threw on a fresh pair of jeans, socks, shoes, and a lovely cotton shirt and brushed her hair as she went into the kitchen sitting down at the table as Anne placed a hot plate of eggs, bacon and toast for her to eat.

"Thanks, mom" she smiled.

"You're welcome, Kimmie" full of smile.

As the family dined there was a knock on the door: "It's open, Ronnie" Anne called out.

Sniffing the air as he came in Ron and Rufus came into the kitchen and were welcomed with a plate of their own of hot eggs and bacon. "Yum" said Rufus licking his chops. As the group dined the clock ticked down, "You two better hurry or you'll be late" Father said.

"Right, let's go, KP" said Ron.

The scooter was a flimsy machine. It would barely run under both their weight, but Kim could not help but smile as she wrapped her arms around Ron's waist as they went under way to the school. When they arrived they stopped at Kim's locker then went straight towards history where Mr. Barkin was still in attendance.

"Alright you bunch of rejects" he yelled, "I still have the reins of this class and this is how it's going to play out. The Veterans Group is having a dance this coming Saturday and they have asked that they hold it here at our gym. What I'm asking from you is to find your veteran and bring him or her to the event."

"How are we going to do that?" whispered Ron to Kim.

"Not sure" she whispered back. "But I'll think of a way"

From that day on, the days went by slowly. All Kim could think about was that velvet ring box that sat on her night stand. It seemed to call out to her when she walked by, but when she opened it there was nothing but a diamond, a large diamond, and an engraved band underneath. What was so important about it? She would close it and place it back and it would start all over again. The mind games. Tuesday, Wednsday, Thursday, and Friday all came and went by slowly, and when Saturday came Kim sat up in bed and looked at the velvet ring box, "Alright, you, let's see what you're made of" she said as she grabbed it and opened it. It was as silent as the grave.

"Talk to me, what makes you, what drives you?" she said to it.

Nothing.

Closing the case and putting it in her pocket she went down stairs and ate breakfast. She then went back up stairs and prepared to explain herself to Mr. Barkin when they arrived at the dance. She called Ron on the phone, "Ron, listen, I need you to do something for me."

"Anything, KP"

"I want you to bring the chest over here." They did not return the chest at all. Not just yet.

When the meek boy dragged the old wood box into the household of Possible the parents were amazed. "Where did you find this, Ron?" Dad asked as he dusted off the layer of dirt from the top of the lid.

"I...I...I..." before he could formulate a response Kim cut him off, "He brought it over for me, Dad. It's for my report for the Veterans Dance."

"Oh, well, I'll just let the two of you be then. If you need me I'll be in the den". He walked out leaving the two alone.

"Should we open it?" whispered Ron.

"Why are you whispering, Ron? It can't hear you"

"I don't know, but this thing is creeping me out. It was like a dead weight ever since I tried to carry it. I tell ya, I have a bad feeling about this, KP"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Ron" she waved him off, "Let's open it up and find out what's inside." They already knew what was inside, but now with time to really look inside in detail they cracked the lid and found that it was vastly different than before. There was the uniform with the Silver Star decoration just as they had left it, and the photograph. Even though it was smashed the photograph itself remained intact and it was still a clear image as the day it was made. Setting the blouse aside as well as the photograph there was more treasure that they had previously overlooked. There were several small leather bound boxes with gold leaf stencil written on it. Picking them and reading the gold leaf inscriptions they read, "Army Commendation Medal" What was that? Opening the case there was a hexagonal shaped medal with an eagle in its center with a green ribbon with white vertical stripes going from the top to the bottom. "Looks like Saint earned a lot of medals when he was with the Army" Kim said as she closed the case and set it aside and fished out another. Ron thought so as well as he opened up a case, "Bronze Star V device."

"This is incredible. This man was covered in medals." remarked Ron, "He must have looked like a Christmas tree."

"Perhaps" said Kim as she took notes on a pad of paper.

"Whatcha writing, KP?"

"Just some notes for Mr. Barkin. Just in case."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Robert, he is mine.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Our veteran is deceased, Ron. The only way people will know about his service is if we tell them, so we have to write everything down. Now, keep fishing and see what else turns up." He does and pulls out two more medal cases. "Distinguished Service Cross" Whoa said Ron, "I heard about this one, it's suppose to be second to the Medal of Honor."

If that was true then why did Montry not want to wear it? Guess he held the Silver Star in much more esteem than anything else. Ron continued to dig. He pulled out a picture; it was of Montry in his Class a uniform complete with medals. "He WAS decorated like a Christmas tree" Ron exclaimed as he saw it. Looking at the row of medals was as big as their fists. "This guy must have been through a lot in order to get all those things" said Kim.

"Yeah, no doubt about that" Ron concurred "But, what do we do now?"

"We take it all down and give it during the presentation tonight" said Kim.

"In front of all those people? I don't think I can handle that. Without a body Mr. Barkin will eat us alive!" Ron said nervously as he set the picture aside.

"Of course you can" replied Kim, "Suck it up, be a man now help me out here" she placed the medals and material back in the chest and shut the lid. "Now, go home and get ready. The dance starts soon so get in your best suit," she said.

"I will" said Ron, "But what about you?"

"I'll finish with the rest of the report and then I'll throw something on. Don't worry about me." she smiled. Ron smiled back.

Jumping on his scooter Ron peddled away leaving Kim to wonder if she would ever finish her report on time. She sat there in front of her computer at a half finished sentence with curser blinking ready for typing. Her hands were on the keyboard, but she felt as if something was blocking the flow from her brain down to her fingers. "Come on, Kim" she said to herself, "You can do this, just breath" she did so, letting out a big sigh and then she felt a strange warmth take over her body. Suddenly the sentences rolled off the tip of her fingers with incredible speed. She flew through the paragraphs with haste and accuracy. It was unbelievable.

A quick glance at a clock, it read 6:43, time to start getting ready for Ron would arrive at eight to pick her up. Clicking the print button Kim stood up front the computer, stretched and went over to the closet and began to comb through for the finest dress she could find. It was a tough decision for there were so many to choose from but in the end she picked the one that caught her eye and soon found herself in front of the mirror combing her hair and applying makeup.

At precisely eight there was a knock at the front door. Mr. Possible opened it. It was Ron in his father's tuxedo. "Come on in, Ron" he said. As he waited at the base of the stairs they happened to look up and from down from the heavens came the angel of his dreams. In a lovely blue silk gown and tied back red hair was the lovely Kim Possible.

"You look great, KP" said Ron with a smile and wide eyes.

"Thanks, Ron" she shyly replied.

"Come now you to. All together so I can take a picture of you" said Anne with the camera in hand. Hugging each other the two touched cheeks and smiled and there was a blinding flash. After a second their eyes adjusted and they were standing out on the front steps of the house.

"Now, you know the rules, home by eleven" said Father.

"Yes, sir" said Ron.

"Good, now have a lovely time" added Anne over his shoulder.

Outside there was a car waiting, "Your dad loaned you the car?" Kim exclaimed.

"Yeah, I practically had to beg him to let me use it but he did."

"Score!" they high-fived.

They drive to the school and parked in the parking lot. At the gym there was a line of people waiting to go inside. There was a man sitting at the front entrance. He had no legs, wearing a flight cap decorated with small medallions and a smile. Each person that passed him he would exchange warm greetings. He had lost his legs but not his spirit. When Kim came up he asked her, "What's your name, missy?"

"Kim Possible" she replied with a smile.

"I heard about you. You save the world many times".

"Yes"

"Go on in and have a good time"

Walking inside the gym there were balloons and streamers with music blaring with a disco ball that flashed light onto the walls. It was a glorious sight to behold. Hand in hand our two heroes walked in. Kim immediately caught sight of Bonnie near the microphone on a platform where the band was playing. There were other students there chatting and some were dancing, but the vast majority of the people that had gathered at the gym were veterans of all wars and disabilities. Some were in wheelchairs, on crutches or required help when they walked. They stood on the side lines and watched as the students had fun.

Mr. Barkin took to the microphone and announced, "Alright, people, the party is officially underway" there was a cheer from the crowd. "And to officially kick things off we will have one of our students talk about one veteran in a presentation. Here she is, Kim Possible". There was a round of applause. Kim's cheeks turned red as Ron led her up the small flight of stairs, pad of paper in hand, towards the microphone. Adjusting it to fit to her height she drew a deep breath and said:

"Good evening, our report is on Sergeant First Class Charles Robert Montry."

There was a murmur in the crowd but they pushed on through it.

"For conspicuous gallantry on the field on battle he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during the a battle near Saigon. When the helicopter that he was in was hit and forced to land, Sergeant Montry formed a one man army defending the downed helicopter till a second on could arrive and evacuate the downed team. He fired his rifle at the Viet Cong, then grenades, and pulled wounded to a small ditch to get them out of the field of fire. When a grenade landed in their midst, he pushed the men aside and threw it away before it exploded.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Robert, he is mine.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Our veteran is deceased, Ron. The only way people will know about his service is if we tell them, so we have to write everything down. Now, keep fishing and see what else turns up." He does and pulls out two more medal cases. "Distinguished Service Cross" Whoa said Ron, "I heard about this one, it's suppose to be second to the Medal of Honor."

If that was true then why did Montry not want to wear it? Guess he held the Silver Star in much more esteem than anything else. Ron continued to dig. He pulled out a picture; it was of Montry in his Class a uniform complete with medals. "He WAS decorated like a Christmas tree" Ron exclaimed as he saw it. Looking at the row of medals was as big as their fists. "This guy must have been through a lot in order to get all those things" said Kim.

"Yeah, no doubt about that" Ron concurred "But, what do we do now?"

"We take it all down and give it during the presentation tonight" said Kim.

"In front of all those people? I don't think I can handle that. Without a body Mr. Barkin will eat us alive!" Ron said nervously as he set the picture aside.

"Of course you can" replied Kim, "Suck it up, be a man now help me out here" she placed the medals and material back in the chest and shut the lid. "Now, go home and get ready. The dance starts soon so get in your best suit," she said.

"I will" said Ron, "But what about you?"

"I'll finish with the rest of the report and then I'll throw something on. Don't worry about me." she smiled. Ron smiled back.

Jumping on his scooter Ron peddled away leaving Kim to wonder if she would ever finish her report on time. She sat there in front of her computer at a half finished sentence with curser blinking ready for typing. Her hands were on the keyboard, but she felt as if something was blocking the flow from her brain down to her fingers. "Come on, Kim" she said to herself, "You can do this, just breath" she did so, letting out a big sigh and then she felt a strange warmth take over her body. Suddenly the sentences rolled off the tip of her fingers with incredible speed. She flew through the paragraphs with haste and accuracy. It was unbelievable.

A quick glance at a clock, it read 6:43, time to start getting ready for Ron would arrive at eight to pick her up. Clicking the print button Kim stood up front the computer, stretched and went over to the closet and began to comb through for the finest dress she could find. It was a tough decision for there were so many to choose from but in the end she picked the one that caught her eye and soon found herself in front of the mirror combing her hair and applying makeup.

At precisely eight there was a knock at the front door. Mr. Possible opened it. It was Ron in his father's tuxedo. "Come on in, Ron" he said. As he waited at the base of the stairs they happened to look up and from down from the heavens came the angel of his dreams. In a lovely blue silk gown and tied back red hair was the lovely Kim Possible.

"You look great, KP" said Ron with a smile and wide eyes.

"Thanks, Ron" she shyly replied.

"Come now you to. All together so I can take a picture of you" said Anne with the camera in hand. Hugging each other the two touched cheeks and smiled and there was a blinding flash. After a second their eyes adjusted and they were standing out on the front steps of the house.

"Now, you know the rules, home by eleven" said Father.

"Yes, sir" said Ron.

"Good, now have a lovely time" added Anne over his shoulder.

Outside there was a car waiting, "Your dad loaned you the car?" Kim exclaimed.

"Yeah, I practically had to beg him to let me use it but he did."

"Score!" they high-fived.

They drive to the school and parked in the parking lot. At the gym there was a line of people waiting to go inside. There was a man sitting at the front entrance. He had no legs, wearing a flight cap decorated with small medallions and a smile. Each person that passed him he would exchange warm greetings. He had lost his legs but not his spirit. When Kim came up he asked her, "What's your name, missy?"

"Kim Possible" she replied with a smile.

"I heard about you. You save the world many times".

"Yes"

"Go on in and have a good time"

Walking inside the gym there were balloons and streamers with music blaring with a disco ball that flashed light onto the walls. It was a glorious sight to behold. Hand in hand our two heroes walked in. Kim immediately caught sight of Bonnie near the microphone on a platform where the band was playing. There were other students there chatting and some were dancing, but the vast majority of the people that had gathered at the gym were veterans of all wars and disabilities. Some were in wheelchairs, on crutches or required help when they walked. They stood on the side lines and watched as the students had fun.

Mr. Barkin took to the microphone and announced, "Alright, people, the party is officially underway" there was a cheer from the crowd. "And to officially kick things off we will have one of our students talk about one veteran in a presentation. Here she is, Kim Possible". There was a round of applause. Kim's cheeks turned red as Ron led her up the small flight of stairs, pad of paper in hand, towards the microphone. Adjusting it to fit to her height she drew a deep breath and said:

"Good evening, our report is on Sergeant First Class Charles Robert Montry."

There was a murmur in the crowd but they pushed on through it.

"For conspicuous gallantry on the field on battle he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during the a battle near Saigon. When the helicopter that he was in was hit and forced to land, Sergeant Montry formed a one man army defending the downed helicopter till a second on could arrive and evacuate the downed team. He fired his rifle at the Viet Cong, then grenades, and pulled wounded to a small ditch to get them out of the field of fire. When a grenade landed in their midst, he pushed the men aside and threw it away before it exploded.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Montry, he is mine.

The people were shocked. She pressed on. "When the helicopter landed, the wounded were put on first, but there was no room for Montry, he voted to stay behind and wait for a second helicopter. Alone on the battlefield with a M-16 and a bundle of grenades. He returned to the downed helicopter and fired the door mounted M-60 machine guns until the ammunition was exhausted then resorted to using his M-16 and throwing his grenades. That kept the enemy back until a second helicopter could land and take him off."

There was a murmur from the crowd then a round of applause from a group of veterans in the front row from the VFW. The two children smiled before stepping down from the podium. They were greeted by a man in a wheelchair, the same that was at the front door, "I heard what you said, Missy. I must say i'm truely impressed. Where did you hear about him?"

"We found him" Kim said.

"We would like to hear more about him" said a tall man with a VFW cap.

"Certainly" said Ron.

Leading the way towards a table refreshments were placed there by the veterans that surrounded the two, "Tell us more" asked one them.

"Well," Kim flipped through the papers she had in her hands and found another story several deep, "In the Mekong Delta their boat came across several sampans carrying large caches of rice and weapons. When they were in the process of destroying the supplies they came under fire from the shore by a large force of enemy. Turning his boat to meet the challenge Montry piloted his craft with expert skill that allowed them to escape the ambush site with minimal damage and no casualties while being able to destroy the weapons caches." the veterans nodded to one another. Montry was someone they never heard of but they believed the story. Kim's emerald green eyes looked at their faces. They were all old, perhaps in their fifties or sixties, but all were proud veterans wearing emblems of units and of branches.

"Can I ask something? Why do you guys do it?" Kim asked.

"Do what?" asked one of the veterans, a tall frail man with a Marine Corps globe and anchor cap.

"Why did you all enlist?"

"Because if we didn't we wouldn't have what we have now adays" the marine said, "The right to assemble to speak freely, to bear arms, and to vote. They can't do that in China or Tibet."

"Is that all?" asked Ron.

"More than that" said an Army veteran from the 2nd Armored Division, Hell on Wheels, "We did it for the comrades that stand next to you."

"Comradship?" Kim enquired.

"Would you do it for your best friend?" the tanker asked.

She glanced at the tall thin blonde haired friend of a naked mole rat whom smiled back with his freckled face, and without skipping a beat she replied, "Definately. One question though," she asked, "why don't you guys say that you have PSTD?"

"I wish it were that easy" said the tough Marine.

"Why?" asked Ron.

"You see, son, we look out for each other. You have to trust the man next to you. Like us we are trained to survive but we are never trained on how to turn it all off. We go into the civilian life blind and unprepared and most of us have a hard time copping with even the most basic tasks. Like me for example, I took my car down the garage to have the tires rotated. Another car came in and backfired and next thing I know i'm hugging the floor."

Both children were flabergasted. All the veterans could tell similar stories.

"I keep a small Japanese flag in my office that my squad captured in Okinawa. On it we signed all of our names. We passed that flag from man to man, when each member died it was given to another member of the squad. Eventually it came to me. I'm the last man in my squad." this came from a older Marine confined to a wheelchair with a flight style cap studded with pins.

"That is so sad" said Kim.

"It's a sad fact of life. We're dying. There are not many of us left. Soon all that is going to be left of us is stories and medals. But, that could be changed with people like you." said the young Marine.

"How us?" asked Ron.

"Because you didn't give up in your search for the truth. You found your target and uncovered everything that was forgotten for so many years."

Kim had to ask, "What will happen to Montry now?"

"Well," said the younger Marine, "we can induct him into our group and have a plaque with his picture placed in the local VA hospital and see where that takes us. Perhaps the mayor could do more by publishing it in the newspaper, but he is a hero in our books. We can find his grave site and have a headstone placed there."

"You can do that?" enquired Ron.

"We're the VFW. We can do anything" they laughed.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Montry, he is mine.

The people were shocked. She pressed on. "When the helicopter landed, the wounded were put on first, but there was no room for Montry, he voted to stay behind and wait for a second helicopter. Alone on the battlefield with a M-16 and a bundle of grenades. He returned to the downed helicopter and fired the door mounted M-60 machine guns until the ammunition was exhausted then resorted to using his M-16 and throwing his grenades. That kept the enemy back until a second helicopter could land and take him off."

There was a murmur from the crowd then a round of applause from a group of veterans in the front row from the VFW. The two children smiled before stepping down from the podium. They were greeted by a man in a wheelchair, the same that was at the front door, "I heard what you said, Missy. I must say i'm truely impressed. Where did you hear about him?"

"We found him" Kim said.

"We would like to hear more about him" said a tall man with a VFW cap.

"Certainly" said Ron.

Leading the way towards a table refreshments were placed there by the veterans that surrounded the two, "Tell us more" asked one them.

"Well," Kim flipped through the papers she had in her hands and found another story several deep, "In the Mekong Delta their boat came across several sampans carrying large caches of rice and weapons. When they were in the process of destroying the supplies they came under fire from the shore by a large force of enemy. Turning his boat to meet the challenge Montry piloted his craft with expert skill that allowed them to escape the ambush site with minimal damage and no casualties while being able to destroy the weapons caches." the veterans nodded to one another. Montry was someone they never heard of but they believed the story. Kim's emerald green eyes looked at their faces. They were all old, perhaps in their fifties or sixties, but all were proud veterans wearing emblems of units and of branches.

"Can I ask something? Why do you guys do it?" Kim asked.

"Do what?" asked one of the veterans, a tall frail man with a Marine Corps globe and anchor cap.

"Why did you all enlist?"

"Because if we didn't we wouldn't have what we have now adays" the marine said, "The right to assemble to speak freely, to bear arms, and to vote. They can't do that in China or Tibet."

"Is that all?" asked Ron.

"More than that" said an Army veteran from the 2nd Armored Division, Hell on Wheels, "We did it for the comrades that stand next to you."

"Comradship?" Kim enquired.

"Would you do it for your best friend?" the tanker asked.

She glanced at the tall thin blonde haired friend of a naked mole rat whom smiled back with his freckled face, and without skipping a beat she replied, "Definately. One question though," she asked, "why don't you guys say that you have PSTD?"

"I wish it were that easy" said the tough Marine.

"Why?" asked Ron.

"You see, son, we look out for each other. You have to trust the man next to you. Like us we are trained to survive but we are never trained on how to turn it all off. We go into the civilian life blind and unprepared and most of us have a hard time copping with even the most basic tasks. Like me for example, I took my car down the garage to have the tires rotated. Another car came in and backfired and next thing I know i'm hugging the floor."

Both children were flabergasted. All the veterans could tell similar stories.

"I keep a small Japanese flag in my office that my squad captured in Okinawa. On it we signed all of our names. We passed that flag from man to man, when each member died it was given to another member of the squad. Eventually it came to me. I'm the last man in my squad." this came from a older Marine confined to a wheelchair with a flight style cap studded with pins.

"That is so sad" said Kim.

"It's a sad fact of life. We're dying. There are not many of us left. Soon all that is going to be left of us is stories and medals. But, that could be changed with people like you." said the young Marine.

"How us?" asked Ron.

"Because you didn't give up in your search for the truth. You found your target and uncovered everything that was forgotten for so many years."

Kim had to ask, "What will happen to Montry now?"

"Well," said the younger Marine, "we can induct him into our group and have a plaque with his picture placed in the local VA hospital and see where that takes us. Perhaps the mayor could do more by publishing it in the newspaper, but he is a hero in our books. We can find his grave site and have a headstone placed there."

"You can do that?" enquired Ron.

"We're the VFW. We can do anything" they laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Charles Robert Montry, he is my creation.

The dance went on. The veterans watched as the children went out onto the dance floor as the music played. Kim and Ron stayed on the sideline and marveled at them for some time, that is until, a Marine veteran, the same tall, thin man with a Globe and Anchor emblem on his hat came up.

"Are you two going to dance?" he asked them.

"We will, eventually" replied Kim then noted the high sheen of his emblem "It's a beautiful head piece"."

"Cost me an arm and leg, but it was definately worth it" the marine smiled.

"What is it about jarheads that make them fight for just a small piece of polished metal?" asked Ron.

"I'll tell you, son" replied the marine, "It's respect. It's respect for those that had come before to carry on the traditions and memory of the Marine Corps. Men have fought and died for this sacred piece, and if I were asked, I would gladly give my life for my comrades."

"Whoa" said Kim, "You would give up that easily?"

"In a heartbeat, sweety" the marine smiled.

The dance resumed. Everyone was having a gay ol' time, but Ron and Kim were sitting on the side lines, watching them from afar. Ron looked at his friend, she seemed anxious to dance, but with who? With you, stupid! With me? But i'm such a klutz. Does it matter? Now is your chance to show everyone just the opposite. Take her hand and lead her out to the dance floor and show her the best time of her life. That was it. Ron summoned up the courage, downed his glass of punch, slammed onto the table, turned to Kim and said to her with an offering hand, "Would you like to dance?"

"I thought you didn't dance" replied KP.

"There's always a chance" he smiled.

Smiling in response, Kim placed her small, thin hand onto the larger hand of her friend whom took it. Together, they walked onto the dance floor just as the music was stopped and then began to change. "This is a request for all you young lover out there, here's Michelle Branch with _"You set me free"._ As the music started Ron and KP picked a small plot on the dance floor and took up position. He took her right hand and held it firmly then placed his right hand around her waist. So far so good. The hardest part was starting. Sweat began to form droplets on his forehead. Take that first step, remember the moves, off with the left. Lifting his leg he planted the first move and Kim followed. It worked! He breathed a collective sigh of relief. Next, came the second step. A step backwards. He lifted up his right leg and moved back and Kim gladly followed, "You're doing great" smiled Kim. Confident of his moves now, Ron began making steady moves, going from left to right, back and forth, gradually moving in a circular, carving a path through the dance floor that made the others dive for cover. Not caring, they were lost in thought. Never did their eyes lose contact, they were bathed in each others thoughts.

Though it seemed like hours, eventually, the music came to an end. Everyone paused and applauded, but our two heroes stopped and continued to look at each other in the eye. "Kim, I never had the chance to tell you..." said Ron choking up the words to say.

"Say what, Ron?"

"I...I..."

Suddenly, from across the dance floor came a bloisterous voice, "Kiss her, you fool!" the marine screamed.

The two touched forehead and giggled. Then, they lifted up their heads and looked at each other in the eyes. They were soft, loving, lost in thought, then they slowly closed and their lips touched.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Charles Robert Montry, he is my creation.

The dance went on. The veterans watched as the children went out onto the dance floor as the music played. Kim and Ron stayed on the sideline and marveled at them for some time, that is until, a Marine veteran, the same tall, thin man with a Globe and Anchor emblem on his hat came up.

"Are you two going to dance?" he asked them.

"We will, eventually" replied Kim then noted the high sheen of his emblem "It's a beautiful head piece"."

"Cost me an arm and leg, but it was definately worth it" the marine smiled.

"What is it about jarheads that make them fight for just a small piece of polished metal?" asked Ron.

"I'll tell you, son" replied the marine, "It's respect. It's respect for those that had come before to carry on the traditions and memory of the Marine Corps. Men have fought and died for this sacred piece, and if I were asked, I would gladly give my life for my comrades."

"Whoa" said Kim, "You would give up that easily?"

"In a heartbeat, sweety" the marine smiled.

The dance resumed. Everyone was having a gay ol' time, but Ron and Kim were sitting on the side lines, watching them from afar. Ron looked at his friend, she seemed anxious to dance, but with who? With you, stupid! With me? But i'm such a klutz. Does it matter? Now is your chance to show everyone just the opposite. Take her hand and lead her out to the dance floor and show her the best time of her life. That was it. Ron summoned up the courage, downed his glass of punch, slammed onto the table, turned to Kim and said to her with an offering hand, "Would you like to dance?"

"I thought you didn't dance" replied KP.

"There's always a chance" he smiled.

Smiling in response, Kim placed her small, thin hand onto the larger hand of her friend whom took it. Together, they walked onto the dance floor just as the music was stopped and then began to change. "This is a request for all you young lover out there, here's Michelle Branch with _"You set me free"._ As the music started Ron and KP picked a small plot on the dance floor and took up position. He took her right hand and held it firmly then placed his right hand around her waist. So far so good. The hardest part was starting. Sweat began to form droplets on his forehead. Take that first step, remember the moves, off with the left. Lifting his leg he planted the first move and Kim followed. It worked! He breathed a collective sigh of relief. Next, came the second step. A step backwards. He lifted up his right leg and moved back and Kim gladly followed, "You're doing great" smiled Kim. Confident of his moves now, Ron began making steady moves, going from left to right, back and forth, gradually moving in a circular, carving a path through the dance floor that made the others dive for cover. Not caring, they were lost in thought. Never did their eyes lose contact, they were bathed in each others thoughts.

Though it seemed like hours, eventually, the music came to an end. Everyone paused and applauded, but our two heroes stopped and continued to look at each other in the eye. "Kim, I never had the chance to tell you..." said Ron choking up the words to say.

"Say what, Ron?"

"I...I..."

Suddenly, from across the dance floor came a bloisterous voice, "Kiss her, you fool!" the marine screamed.

The two touched forehead and giggled. Then, they lifted up their heads and looked at each other in the eyes. They were soft, loving, lost in thought, then they slowly closed and their lips touched.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to Kim Possible. They are owned by Disney. I do own Charles Robert Montry, he is my creation.

"It's time" said Ron. He held the door open for her.

Kim stepped inside as rain began to fall on the windshield. It started very lightly. Ron stepped behind the wheel and turned the engine over. Throwing the car into gear they were off at a slow, steady pace. It was not far to the cemetery, just a few miles. As they went they said nothing. Kim looked out the window at the buildings going by and was wondering. Exactly what Ron wanted to know but could not sum up the courage to ask. Instead, he was focused on the road. At Main Street he turned to the right and took the road that lead them out of town.

In her hand was a single red rose. It was a real one, in bloom, the pedals outstretched, catching the rain drops when they came to a stop and exited from the car at the gate of the cemetery.

There was not a soul around, except for a single man, with a brown flight cap, a white shirt and a pair of brown pants on with black shoes. He did not mind the weather. He wondered the rows upon rows of graves with a trumpet in his hand.

"What is he doing?" Ron whispered as they walked past.

"I don't know" Kim said glancing at him. "Maybe he's the caretaker."

They went down the head stones, each one was polished with the rain, each one with the name of someone that they had never heard of who had died long ago. Ron felt a tingle, a cold wave, go down his spine. Guess he felt his old mortality as he looked at the names of those who had died recently.

"Over here, I found him" Kim called. Waving him over Ron walked over and looked down. It was a new headstone. The VFW had come through, but they missed the ceremony they had because of their wedding. It was a simple piece of granite:

Charles Robert Montry

Vietnam

July 21st 1949-September 1st 1972

"He was so young" her voice very low as she fought back her tears.

"Yes, just like us" concurred Ron.

Kim turned her gaze to her friend and looked into his soft eyes, "Ron...."

"You don't need to say anything, KP" said Ron as he wrapped a warm arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his body. They looked at the grave for a moment then Kim pulled away and kneeled down and placed the single red rose on the head stone. Kim stepped back and looked down. Ron touched her shoulder causing the redhead to turn her sad eyes to him, "It's time to go." She stood up to one last look at the grave and remember the name and the red rose that was in bloom, the pedal catching the rain drops.

In the distance, the man placed the bugle to his lips and began to play "Taps". It was a slow walk out of the cemetery to her car, but it gave them awhile to think. Sitting in the car she gave it one last look, "We'll come back here on July 21st," she said to Ron, "No matter what." Her emerald eyes looked at the ring on her finger. She looked at Ron as he turned the gripped the steering wheel. He wore a matching ring on his hand. The rain was coming down heavier now, but the trumpeter continued to play the tune for the departed. When the song was finished the Kimunicator gave off its own chime. KP pulled it out of her pocket and activated it's monitor, "What's the sitch..."


End file.
